Escaped prisoner back behind bars after more than week on run

A FUGITIVE prisoner, jailed for killing a teenage mother following a high-speed car chase, was back behind bars last night — but not before he rammed a garda patrol car and a taxi in yet another reckless bid to escape.

Thomas Connors, who was on the run after jumping from a third-floor window of a hospital more than a week ago, was recaptured by gardaí following a two-mile chase through south Dublin.

Following the chase from Ballyfermot, Connors, 26, jumped out of the car close to his home in Rathfarnham and continued fleeing on foot.

He was eventually grabbed by pursuing gardaí.

Connors, convicted last December of killing a young woman and severely injuring her boyfriend, was spotted on Tuesday evening sitting in a car with another man at the back of shops in Ballyfermot.

The criminal noticed the patrol car and sped off.

During the chase, he rammed the garda vehicle and smashed into a taxi.

Sentenced to five years for unlawfully killing 19-year-old Lisa Cummins, Connors now faces a series of driving charges and one for being unlawfully at large.

A second man was also arrested and a file has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Father-of-two Connors is now back in Wheatfield Prison, but may need further hospital treatment.

Connors escaped from Beaumont Hospital while undergoing treatment for a head injury.

He suffered a broken shinbone and ankle when jumping from the toilet window.

While on the run, he gave a newspaper interview where he claimed his life was in danger in prison following a run-in with murderer “Cotton Eye” Joe Delaney.

Prison insiders confirmed a row did take place, but that the hot-headed Connors was as much to blame.

As Connors is returned to prison, a second prisoner remains on the run.

Michael Fagan, from Lower Sean McDermott Street in Dublin, fled while out on day release last Wednesday accompanied by a nun based at Mountjoy.

He was serving a six-year sentence and still had three to serve.