A prisoner serving a five-year sentence for manslaughter escaped from custody yesterday during a hospital visit when an armed accomplice arrived at the hospital and threatened to shoot a prison officer in the head if he did not release him.
The Prison Officers' Association (POA) said the matter was a "very serious development" that raised genuine concerns about the safety of its members.
Derek Glennon (22), of Stanaway Road, Crumlin, Dublin, was being escorted from Wheatfield Prison, Dublin, to St James's Hospital in the city for an outpatient appointment at 10.30am when the escape took place.
When Glennon and his three-man prison officer escort arrived at the hospital, a masked man armed with a shotgun appeared in the outpatient department.
He pointed his gun at the prison officer Glennon was chained to, telling him he would shoot him in the head if the 22-year-old was not released.
The prison officer immediately unlocked a chain which secured Glennon to him.
Glennon then ran out of the hospital, still wearing a set of prison handcuffs, with his accomplice. The prison officers gave chase but the two men jumped into a getaway car, driven by a third man, which was waiting outside.
The vehicle left the scene at speed.
The prison officers took the registration details of the car and passed them on to gardaí. The vehicle was recovered last night and was undergoing technical examination.
A Garda investigation is under way. The prison service was also carrying out its own internal investigation.
Glennon has been in prison since December 2002 and was due out in December 2006. He was sentenced to five years for the manslaughter of a cyclist whom he killed while driving a stolen car.
He served the first portion of his sentence in St Patrick's Institution, which houses young offenders, before being moved to Wheatfield.
Prison sources said Glennon had been a "troublesome" prisoner. He was involved in a row recently with another inmate who was very badly injured during the incident.
He has been the subject of almost 50 disciplinary incident reports in prison.
These included physical altercations with other inmates and with prison staff.
POA general secretary John Clinton said his organisation wanted assurances from the Irish Prison Service and the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, that measures would be put in place to improve the safety of officers escorting inmates.
"This can't be allowed to take off, that armed criminals with serious intent can threaten our members with guns. If that's going to be the case then we would be seeking an armed Garda escort with prisoners."
It was "pot luck" that the three prison officers or members of the public in the hospital at the time were not killed or seriously injured, Mr Clinton said.
A spokesman for the prison service said nothing in Glennon's history indicated he was likely to become involved in an incident similar to yesterday's.
He said Glennon could have communicated his planned visit to St James's through a phone call from prison or during a visit.
Safety precautions were put in place for risk offenders, the spokesman added.
