Byrne’s release common knowledge among prisoners

Cormac O’Keeffe

Byrne is thought to have viciously assaulted his assailant while serving time with him in Wheatfield Prison a year-and-a-half ago.

He slashed the man with a makeshift blade in the attack, which is thought to have involved a second assailant.

Byrne, aged 30 and from Fettercairn, west Tallaght, was moved to Mountjoy Prison to serve the rest of his sentence.

He was imprisoned for five years and seven months in 2001 and by yesterday had completed four-and-a-half years.

He had built up a reputation within the Prison Service for causing trouble and had a long record for disciplinary problems, assaulting other prisoners and threatening prison officers.

“He was well known inside the service as a trouble maker,” said one prison source yesterday. “He got around a number of prisons, including Portlaoise, Cork, Wheatfield and Mountjoy.”

Byrne had a string of convictions including possession of drugs, failing bail conditions, robbery, trespass, attempted burglary, assault and burglary.

He had tried to escape custody during a visit to St James’s Hospital, but was unsuccessful.

Byrne was due to be released in August.

To prepare him for re-integration into society, he was put on a structured prerelease programme.

Mountjoy Prison governor John Lonergan said yesterday was Byrne’s first one-

day temporary release.

He said Byrne would have been notified several days before of his temporary release day.

“Lots of his friends and other prisoners would have become aware, some he would have told himself. It was a big thing, his first day out,” said Mr Lonergan.

“It’s not unusual for that information to be generally available within the prison community.”

Mr Lonergan said it was reasonable to assume information about his release was passed on to his killer from inside the prison.

He said the information could have been passed on during family visits to the prison or it could have come from prisoners who had recently left the jail.

He said he would cooperate with investigating gardaí to establish who might have known of Byrne’s release, how it was passed on and who may have received the information.

Prison sources said there would have been up to 40 other inmates in the same wing as Byrne, but he also shared the exercise yard with other inmates. The first thing Byrne did when he was released was walk the short distance across the North Circular Road into Selections Deli shop and buy credit for his mobile phone.