Murderer sent back to prison after having sex with prison guard’s daughter

The 54-year-old, who brutally stabbed his former partner Nichola Dickson to death in a fit of jealousy 21 years ago, sparked a manhunt last weekend when he failed to return to the north Belfast prison unit where he was due to be housed during his release phase.

He was caught again two days later. However, in the eyes of his victim’s family, the incident has once again highlighted how inappropriate it is to put him on the street.

His victim’s family said this week they had been told McCord had been deemed a “serious danger to the public” just six weeks before prison officials released him onto the streets.

However, we can reveal that the killer McCord was once returned to prison after being declared paroled for having sex with a prison guard’s daughter.

In fact, the dangerous thug was sent back to prison at least half a dozen times for breaking the rules of his release program.

These violations included using illegal drugs, entering into relationships with women, and even assaulting other women.

A source in the prison service told the Sunday World There was great anger within the service that McCord was still getting so many opportunities.

“David McCord has returned to prison so many times for rule violations that it’s no longer a joke,” the source said.

“He is clearly a danger to women and he clearly doesn’t believe he should abide by the rules of his release. The amount of money the Prison Service has put into this prisoner to make him fit for permanent release is insane.

“When he disappeared from the force without permission last week, no one was surprised. You would think that after what he had done, he would be happy to be released so soon, but he did the opposite.

“He has been sent back to prison twice for attacking two different girlfriends – one from Shankill and another girl from East Belfast.

“He was also sent back two more times for failing a drug test and once for having an affair with a prison guard’s daughter.

“She was having some problems in her relationship and was therefore vulnerable, and McCord took full advantage of that.

“It was an absolute disgrace that this could be allowed to happen – it put a defenceless woman in a very dangerous situation.

“But McCord can’t control himself when it comes to women – he thinks he’s a gift from God. He’s a threat to any woman crazy enough to go out with him, and with his past.”

Nicholas Dickson’s family were furious from the moment he was sentenced to a minimum term of just 11 years and fought for a longer minimum sentence for murderers.

Gareth Smyth, Nicholas’ brother, also revealed that they received a letter from the Parole Board last September informing them that McCord could not be released because he “continues to pose a serious risk to the public”.

But six weeks later, they received another letter from the Ministry of Justice informing them of his release.

“How can this happen?” Gareth asked us. “How can someone who was considered a serious danger to the public for a month suddenly be released again?

“This makes no sense, and even less sense when you consider that at the time of writing he had already been released and returned several times for violations of regulations.”

McCord, from Tullycarnet in east Belfast, brutally murdered Nichola Dickson in 2003 after she told him she was going to return to her husband.

After strangling her in the bedroom of their home in Ballycarry, County Antrim, he then stabbed Nichola with a 30cm kitchen knife.

Nicholas’ body was found by her mother, Linda Brown, who Sunday World In 2006, she discovered her daughter’s body with a large knife still sticking out of her chest.

“When I walked in, I knew immediately she was dead,” she told us at the time. “A carving knife was sticking out of her chest. McCord was on top of her, so I threw him off her and started screaming.”

“He had strangled her with his hands and then put a belt around her neck. The buckle pierced her windpipe, but she still did not die. He made a cup of tea before driving out.

“He must have realised he wasn’t getting away with it because he came back and slit her wrists and throat. Then he stabbed her four times with a 12-inch carving knife.”

After being found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 11 years, Nicholas’ family protested and campaigned for harsher punishments for murderers.

As early as 2004, Attorney General Lord Goldsmith had decided that the sentence was NOT unduly lenient.

“I consider this verdict an affront to humanity,” her father Philip said at the time.

“What the guy got doesn’t justify what he actually did. When you put it in perspective, he didn’t murder Nicola as such, he butchered her, he slaughtered her, and the verdict doesn’t reflect that.”

This week, the family said they were in the right after McCord was sent back to prison for violating the rules of his release program.

Gareth Smyth told the Sunday World: “We have been saying for years that it is not safe for this man to be out in society.

“And unfortunately we were right, because McCord keeps breaking the rules, getting into trouble and then he gets another chance.”

Gareth believes that the justice system also does not act with one voice.

“We received a letter from the Parole Board in September 2023 informing us that McCord could not be released as he ‘continued to pose a serious risk to the public’ and release would not be considered for at least another 12 months,” Gareth explains.

“But then less than two months later, we received a letter from the Department of Justice telling us he was released. How does that make sense?”

The Sunday World has seen the Parole Board’s letter which states: “From everything the Panel has been able to read in the material file, including the current information from the Parole Board, it is clear that Mr McCord continues to pose a serious danger to the public. It is also abundantly clear that this risk cannot be safely managed even with extensive licensing conditions in the community…”

Less than two months later, they received a letter from the Justice Department’s Victim Information Unit informing them that McCord had been released to “live and work in the community.”

Gareth said: “I’ve tried to just assume he’s out because they’re not allowed to tell us where he lives and we’re worried enough about him as it is. But people don’t realise the impact it has on the whole family that he’s free and at large.

“My mother was terrified of going to Belfast because she wanted to run into him or his family, but last week we convinced her to go there with all the children – and then on Friday afternoon we got a call saying that he had disappeared from the force in Belfast without permission. It was like something out of a movie.”