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Woman banned from prison 'for threatening sniffer dog'

A WOMAN has been banned from visiting her partner, jailed last month for the 1981 IRA murder of an RUC officer, amid claims she threatened a sniffer dog. Seamus Kearney was sentenced last month to serve at least 20 years in prison for the murder of RUC reservist John Proctor in the grounds of a hospital 32 years ago. The 25-year-old police officer had been leaving hospital after visiting his wife who had just given birth to their baby son when he was ambushed. Kearney, of Gorteade Road, Swatragh, Co Derry, had denied murdering the RUC officer and possessing an Armalite AR15 assault rifle used to shoot him dead at the Mid Ulster Hospital on September 14 1981, but was found guilty. The Co Derry man had previously served 10 years in prison for the attempted murder of UDR soldiers whose Land Rover came under fire from the same AR15 rifle used to kill the police man, as it drove through Swatragh in the direction of Maghera in November 1982. Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement he is expected to serve two years in prison. Kearney is appealing the conviction. However, supporters claim his partner Fiona Kearney has been banned from visiting him after making remarks about a trained sniffer dog during a search. West Belfast republican Gerard Hodgins and a family friend were with Ms Kearney during the visit to the high security facility on January 11. They claim that during the search the sniffer dog indicated that one of the men had contraband and as a result forfeited his visit and left the prison without further incident. Mr Hodgins claims that the searches continued and although there was "no aggression... and it was all very good natured" Kearney's partner did remark "that dog should be put down". "The visit went ahead as normal and there was nothing said to either myself or Fiona that would indicate there was any problem," he said. On Saturday, however, Kearney's partner arrived at Maghaberry for a visit to be told she is banned from the prison for making threats to the dog. "This is a farcical situation where a woman has been banned from seeing her partner, possibly for two years of his sentence for making an off the cuff comment about a dog", Mr Hodgins said. A spokesman for the prison service, however, said the ban was for alleged remarks made to a member of staff. "A visitor to Maghaberry Prison on 11 January has been temporarily suspended from further visits pending an investigation into an incident where she allegedly abused members of staff," the spokesman said. * BAN: Left, Maghaberry Prison. Above, Seamus Kearney was sentenced last month to serve at least 20 years in prison for the murder of RUC reservist John Proctor, inset, 32 years ago. Left, labrador dogs are used to search prison visitors