killer has been moved to a medium security prison wing in spite of an escape attempt four years ago.

Speaking in public for the first time, Mrs. Veronica Redman said she and her family "read with horror'' that convicted murderer Troy Shorter had been moved from high to medium security at Westgate Correctional Facility.

Mrs. Redman expressed fear Shorter was "working his way'' toward parole. "My husband is gone forever and Mr. Shorter should be incarcerated for the rest of his life,'' she said.

Shorter was sentenced to hang in March, 1989 after being convicted of the July, 1986 murder of Mr. Redman in which the Hayward's Supermarket owner was shot in the back of the head with a 0.38 calibre handgun during a hold-up.

His death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in March, 1989 by former Governor Sir Desmond Langley.

Shorter's change in prison security status caught the spotlight during a mini-riot at Westgate last month during which the prison's master keys went missing. It emerged that they reappeared in Shorter's possession.

But Mrs. Redman charged that had the keys not been stolen, it would never have come to light that Shorter had been moved to medium security after just nine years of his life sentence and an escape attempt.

"If Mr. Shorter has escaped from maximum security and has stolen keys while in medium security, it can only be perceived that he is trying to escape again,'' she said.

Yesterday, Health and Social Services Minister the Hon. Harry Soares said he would be issuing a full response to Mrs. Redman's complaints.

But he said yesterday that part of a review now underway of Westgate would include the criteria by which prisoners are assessed for changes in security levels.

Another area of review was policy governing prisoners attending funerals, he said.

Mrs. Redman's remarks came in response to comments by Prison Commissioner Mr.

Edward Dyer who replied that an escape attempt could not be held against a prisoner forever when asked why a convicted murdered with a past escape attempt had been moved to medium security.

Mrs. Redman said Mr. Dyer appeared to have forgotten that Shorter was a convicted murderer.

"The unrest that is taking place at Westgate Prison is unsettling because we all live in fear that Shorter will escape once again. This causes stress and a feeling of uncertainty that never goes away because every time we pick up the morning paper there is a prison story and behind the story is Mr. Shorter.

"There must be something that we can do to prevent Mr. Shorter's escapes and his release from prison,'' she said.

But Mr. Dyer said medium prison security at Westgate was "as secure as it ever was''.

However, he said he preferred to withold his comments until the Minister had issued a public statement due to be released today.