The Department of Justice has opened an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the escape on Monday of a prisoner from his cell at Fortmitchell Prison on Spike Island in Cork Harbour. The man, in his 20s, attacked two prison officers with a stocking filled with used batteries.
The officers were treated for shock and minor injuries at Cork University Hospital, which they left at 4 a.m. yesterday. The prisoner was serving a seven-year sentence.