Prison search for gun ‘used by loyalists in attack’

PRISON staff searched a top security Northern Ireland jail for a gun yesterday amid fears that loyalist inmates have smuggled a weapon inside.

All visits to the Bann House section of Maghaberry Prison near Lisburn, Co Antrim, were suspended as warders searched the cells.

Dissident republicans claimed a firearm was pulled during a brutal attack on two men by a gang of loyalists held in the same wing. Seven men were involved in the beating, which left one of the victims with head gashes. As tensions inside the jail deepened, police were also called in to investigate the assault.

Both republicans and loyalists have been demanding segregation from their sworn paramilitary enemies.

Dissident terrorists linked to the Real IRA and Continuity IRA are also staging a so-called dirty protest, smearing their cells with excrement in a bid to force the authorities to separate them. The British government has refused to buckle, but it has set up a special review team to examine safety measures inside Maghaberry, which houses some of the North’s most dangerous criminals and paramilitaries.

A Prison Service spokeswoman confirmed all visits to Bann House were cancelled yesterday to allow staff to carry out a search. The decision followed claims that a weapon was produced during the attack on Monday. She confirmed the beating took place at the Bann House wing of the Co Antrim jail early on Monday.

It is understood five of the suspects are affiliated to loyalist paramilitaries.

One of those beaten is believed to be a 27-year-old republican from Co Fermanagh, who is serving a 14-year sentence for possession of a so-called barrack-buster, a bomb made up of a large amount of explosives, usually packed into a large gas cylinder. According to Marion Price of the Real IRA-linked Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association, the loyalists went into his cell and tried to strangle him.

“They beat him about the head with tins of food and then tried to shoot him, but the gun jammed,” she claimed.

“Another prisoner ran to help him but he was then beaten, too.

“It is a matter of grave urgency that a gun is in the hands of loyalist prisoners and they are prepared to use it.”