Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 20 Mar 2002

Vol. 550 No. 4

Written Answers. - Prisoner Escapes.

Nora Owen

Ceist:

636 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of people who have escaped while in the custody of gardaí or prison officers since 1997 to date; when such escapes took place; the locations they occurred; the length of time after they were each reapprehended and the number who remain at large today. [9430/02]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

Statistics in relation to the number of escapes from Garda custody for 2001 and 2002 are not yet available. I am informed that the latest revised information in relation to escapes from prison custody (for the period from 1997 to date) and from Garda custody (for the period from 1997 to 2000) is as follows:

Year	Escapes
1997	9 (4 from prison custody)
1998	8 (7 from prison custody)
1999	18 (18 from prison custody)
2000	18 (9 from prison custody)
2001	13 from prison custody
2002	3 from prison custody (to date)

In so far as escape from prison custody is concerned, the date of the escape, the location in which it occurred and the date of recapture of the escapees are listed in the following table:–

Date	Location	Date ofrecapture
11/01/1997	Dundalk District Court	02/03/1997
15/01/1997	During escort to prison	25/02/1997
17/10/1997	During escort to Mountjoy Prison	21/11/1997
17/11/1997	Beaumont Hospital	11/12/1997
03/04/1998	St. James's Hospital	14/07/1998
10/06/1998	Bridewell District Court	05/07/1998
24/06/1998	St. Finbarr's Hospital	27/06/1998
12/08/1998	Limerick Regional hospital	14/08/1998
20/09/1998	Cherry Orchard Hospital	09/10/1998
23/09/1998	Outside gate of Prison	26/09/1998
01/10/1998	Carrick on Suir Garda Station	21/08/1999
11/12/1998	Sligo Bus Station	23/12/1998
13/01/1999	Escort from Galway District Court	15/01/1999
03/02/1999	Navan District Court	05/02/1999
18/02/1999	Tullamore D.C.	01/04/1999
25/02/1999	Loughlinstown Hospital	03/04/1999
12/04/1999	The High Court	12/04/1999
07/05/1999	Escort to Kilmainham District Court	11/05/1999
17/05/1999	Cherry Orchard Hospital	17/05/1999
20/06/1999	University Hospital, Cork	At large
07/07/1999	St. James's Hospital	04/09/1999
15/07/1999	Limerick District Court	07/09/1999
22/07/1999	In transit to Mountjoy Prison	22/07/1999
19/08/1999	Tralee District Court	19/10/1999
22/09/1999	In transit from Kilmainham District Court	04/10/1999
11/10/1999	From work party outside gates of prison	12/10/1999
11/10/1999	From work party outside gates of prison	15/10/1999
13/10/1999	Cork District Court	21/10/1999
12/11/1999	From work party outside gates of prison	02/12/1999
14/11/1999	Cherry Orchard Hospital	22/11/1999
13/01/2000	Limerick District Court	13/04/2000
25/05/2000	Escort to Galway District Court	Committed to prison in Northern Ireland

Date	Location	Date ofrecapture
31/07/2000	North Circular Road	31/07/2000
29/09/2000	Limerick District Court	08/01/2001
03/10/2000	Dundalk Circuit Court	03/10/2000
30/10/2000	Prisoner's home address	15/11/2000
09/11/2000	In transit to St. Patrick's Institution	06/03/2001
20/11/2000	In transit from Dublin Circuit Court	30/11/2000
19/12/2000	Traffic lights, Kildare Town	07/01/2001
25/01/2001	In transit from Dublin District Court	01/02/2001
02/02/2001	In transit from Waterford District Court	07/02/2001
08/02/2001	St. James's Hospital	09/02/2001
18/02/2001	Neutral venue while visiting family	26/02/2001
23/03/2001	Rathdowney District Court	06/04/2002
24/03/2001	Dóchas Centre	02/04/2001
24/03/2001	University Hospital, Cork	At large
08/05/2001	St. James's Hospital	09/05/2001
22/05/2001	Dunmore District Court	02/06/2001
20/07/2001	Escort to Galway District Court	15/08/2001
12/11/2001	Galway Regional Hospital	At large
01/12/2001	Roscommon Hospital	Committed to prison in Northern Ireland
20/12/2001	Prisoner's home address	At large
22/01/2002	McDonalds, Naas Road	At large
31/01/2002	Tallaght District Court	12/03/2002
13/03/2002	Cork District Court	16/03/2002

Similiar details in relation to escapes from Garda custody are not readily available and could only be obtained by the expenditure of a disproportionate amount of staff time and resources.

The vast majority of prisoner escapes take place when prisoners are in transit to or from court or hospital. In such settings prisoners have to be taken out of restraints and the control of prison officers or gardaí over their movements may be restricted. Out of the tens of thousands of such outings from prisons over the period, a total of 55 escapes occurred and seven of these prisoners remain at large. However, two of these have been committed to prison in a different jurisdiction. A number of others are recent escapees and experience has shown that it is likely that these persons will be recaptured by the gardaí in the near future.