Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 21 Nov 1996

Vol. 471 No. 8

Written Answers. - Transportation of Prisoners.

Helen Keogh

Ceist:

9 Ms Keogh asked the Minister for Justice the changes, if any, which have been introduced in the security arrangements which apply to the transfer of prisoners from one jail to another or to hospital or to court in view of recent escapes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21744/96]

Tony Killeen

Ceist:

40 Mr. Killeen asked the Minister for Justice if she will give details of the full circumstances surrounding the recent escape from custody of a prisoner (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21794/96]

Seamus Kirk

Ceist:

45 Mr. Kirk asked the Minister for Justice the plans, if any, she has to improve security during the transportation of prisoners. [21796/96]

Michael P. Kitt

Ceist:

53 Mr. M. Kitt asked the Minister for Justice the plans, if any, she has to improve security with a view to minimising the possibility of prisoners escaping from custody. [21797/96]

Minister for Justice (Mrs. Owen)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 9, 40, 45 and 53 together.

The incident to which the Deputies referred occurred on Sunday, 3 November 1996. A prisoner was for operational reasons being transferred from Mountjoy Prison to Cork Prison in a Garda vehicle. He travelled in the rear of the van with two prison officers and was handcuffed to one of them. A third officer in charge of the escort, was in the front of the van with the Garda driver. In the vicinity of the Red Cow Inn on the Naas Road, the officer in charge, on detecting a disturbance in the rear of the van, directed that the vehicle be stopped. On proceeding to the rear of the vehicle he discovered the prisoner had in his possession a blood filled syringe which he used in a most threatening manner towards the officer to whom he was handcuffed.

Following several attempts to approach the prisoner and remove the syringe it was decided by the officer in charge, in the light of the prisoner's aggressive and menacing demeanour and the potentially grave risks posed by the syringe, that the handcuffs be removed. At that stage the prisoner, still carrying the syringe, escaped into nearby fields and, to date, he remains at large.

Security considerations play a major role in the arrangements for escort of prisoners, whether between prisons, to court, hospital, or for other purposes. The level of security in each case is determined by a number of factors including the length of sentence being served by an offender, an assessment of the risk of attempted escape and the potential risk to the community in each case.

Despite the most stringent precautions however, there will always be an element of risk inherent in transporting prisoners outside of the secure confines of the prisons. It is important to keep the level of such incidents in context. In the year to date, more than 13,000 prisoners have been escorted outside the prisons. Of this number, in less than one in every thousand cases incidents occurred leading to the escape of prisoners and, of these four prisoners remain at large today.

I am seriously concerned at any level of escapes from custody wherever and however they occur. As a matter of routine, security of escorts is reviewed after every escape or attempted escape. Following the Naas Road escape the arrangements for handcuffing prisoners have been reviewed as a matter of urgency. New equipment has been ordered which will, when in place, greatly reduce the possibility of incidents of the type described above. The question of the type and design of vehicle best suited for the transport of prisoners is also being reviewed. I have also ordered a tightening up of the procedures for searching prisoners prior to and following escorts and I am satisfied these measures will substantially lower the risk of further similar incidents.

There have been many incidents, usually unreported, where prison staff, by their vigilance and professionalism have succeeded in preventing the escape of prisoners, often when faced with considerable threats to their own safety.