Pearse McAuley (1964/1965[citation needed] – c. 18 March 2024) was a Provisional IRA member, who escaped from Brixton Prison in London on 7 July 1991 along with his cellmate Nessan Quinlivan, while awaiting trial on charges relating to a suspected plot to assassinate former brewery company chairman, Sir Charles Tidbury.
In 1999, McAuley was convicted of manslaughter in Dublin's Special Criminal Court for his role in the killing of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe in the course of an armed robbery.
[3] The Crown Prosecution Service announced it would not seek his extradition on charges related to the Brixton escape.
[4] His release prompted adverse commentary in the Irish press, with McAuley being described as a "psychopathic gun nut".
[5] In 2003, he married Pauline Tully, a Sinn Féin councillor on Cavan County Council and was granted day release from prison to attend the wedding.