THREE PRISONERS who absconded from Loughan House open prison in Co Cavan were apprehended within three hours and transferred to more secure places of detention.
The three men climbed over the perimeter fence of the prison in Blacklion. The Garda and PSNI launched a search operation on both sides of the Border.
Two have been sent to Wheatfield Prison in west Dublin and the other man has been sent to St Patrick’s Institute in Dublin.
The incident is an embarrassment for the Irish Prison Service coming just weeks after Donegal man Martin McDermott was transferred to Loughan House, despite being less than half-way through his sentence for the manslaughter of Garda Gary McLoughlin.
His transfer there only emerged after he absconded and was arrested in the North. However, security sources in the Republic said the three criminals involved in the latest incident were much closer to the end of their sentences and had not been jailed for homicide.
The three absconded on Tuesday just before 6pm. They are from Meath, Louth and Dublin, two are 28, while the third man is 19.
One of the men is serving four years for violent disorder and another is serving three years for a robbery in which he threatened people with blood he said was contaminated. The third man is serving 4½ years for theft.
They were due to be released at different times in the first half of next year. All three climbed over the perimeter fence on Tuesday evening and were seen running off by prison staff, who chased them on to nearby farmland.
Gardaí were alerted and began a search operation.
However, after two hours at large on farmland beside Loughan House, two of the men gave themselves up to gardaí. The third man was apprehended a short time later in the area.
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