Convicts ‘had no choice’ but to escape

Two Romanian brothers are suspected of escaping from a prison by climbing over a 9m-plus perimeter wall after leaving behind a note saying “sorry, we had no choice”.

Toader and Vasile Feier were incarcerated in a low-security section of Castlerea Prison, known as The Grove, in Co Roscommon.

The area allows inmates to walk up to the boundary wall. Sources suspect accomplices on the outside drove up to the wall and assisted the brothers’ escape.

Toader and Vasile, aged 23 and 29, were serving a sentence totalling almost two years for robbing parking meters in Galway.

Sources confirmed Toader had recently been served with a notice of intent to remove him from the State and investigators are examining if this was why they decided to escape.

The Grove comprises about 10 houses and can accommodate up to 70 inmates. Only those assessed as being low risk are allowed to spend their sentences in the houses.

It was previously used to house members of the Provisional IRA, who gave an undertaking not to escape. Yesterday’s escape is the first from The Grove since it opened in 1998.

Sources said the brothers, who were jailed last February, were last seen at 11.30pm on Sunday during a headcount.

After this time the two staff on duty carry out perimeter checks every one or two hours, in between which they are in an office.

CCTV cameras, linked to a central control room in the main prison, monitor the prison boundaries at all times.

At 6.30am yesterday, staff could find no sign of the two men, apart from a note left in their house saying “sorry, we had no choice”.

Prison sources who interacted with the men said they did not think they were being smart in the note.

Insiders suspect the men had arranged with someone on the outside to drive up to the wall at a certain time during the night and enable them to scale the wall.

“Inmates in The Grove can walk right up to the wall,” said a source. “On the outside, you can drive right up to the wall. You drive up the avenue, take a left at the roundabout, and drive up.”

Brian Murphy, the Prison Service director of operations, travelled to the jail yesterday to oversee the internal investigation.

Gardaí were informed and investigations were continuing last night. Gardaí used a cherrypicker yesterday to examine sections of the perimeter wall.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter said: “The matter is currently being investigated. These are two Romanian individuals, convicted for engaging for spate of crimes in Galway. There may or may not have been assistance in their escape and that’s a matter currently under investigation.”

He said he was awaiting a detailed report on how the prisoners escaped before commenting further.