A MAN serving a life sentence for murdering a Limerick hotel worker 20 years ago, has brought a High Court challenge over what he claims is a refusal by the Minister for Justice to consider him for parole.
Paulo Nascimento (46) was convicted in 2003 of murdering 24-year old Cork native, Grainne Dillon, who was a trainee manager at the former Jury’s Inn hotel in Limerick on January 5, 2002.
Nascimento pleaded guilty to shooting Ms Dillon a number of times at the hotel, after she caught him stealing €3,000 from the hotel with a stolen gun.
He previously failed in applications before the High Court and Supreme Court to be transferred to a prison in his native Portugal to be near his family and because of the behaviour of other prisoners towards him.
He has now lodged a challenge to Justice Minster Helen McEntee’s refusal to consider his entitlement to parole, the High Court heard last Monday.
He has claimed he applied for parole on several occasions under the non-statutory Parole Board system between 2001 and 2021.
Nascimento, who is currently serving his sentence at Shelton Abbey Prison, has argued that a parole board recommended he be granted temporary release, sometime at the start of 2022.
