Notorious loyalist paramilitary killer Michael Stone has been released from prison early on parole.
In 1988 he killed three people in a gun and grenade attack on a republican funeral in west Belfast.
The UDA member was released from prison in 2000 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement but he was sent back six years later after attempting to attack Sinn Féin politicians at Stormont.
He had been serving a 30-year prison sentence, however in November Northern Ireland's High Court ruled that he was eligible to apply for early release.
Families of the three men he killed in Milltown Cemetery had taken legal action in an attempt to prevent him from applying for early release.
He was also convicted of the murders of three other Catholics.
Northern Ireland's Parole Commissioners met yesterday to consider his application for release.
They approved the application and he was freed from Maghaberry high security prison near Lisburn in County Antrim shortly after 5pm today.
