Limerick gardaí foil daring raid by gunmen to ‘spring’ criminal from court

Gardaí foiled an elaborate plan by gunmen to “spring” a violent Limerick criminal from a courthouse in a daring raid, it emerged last night.

The plot involved gunmen using motorbikes carrying out an ambush on prison officers at Limerick Circuit Court.

Gardaí received information of the plan and a huge security operation was put in place for the court hearing where the criminal was due to be remanded.

More than 20 armed detectives, along with members of the Garda Armed Support Unit, took up positions in and around the courthouse when the criminal was brought to court on the day of the planned escape. Traffic bollards were placed near the front entrance and extra prison officers were deployed on escort duty as the criminal was brought handcuffed in a prison van to the court building in Merchants Quay. A senior Garda officer supervised the operation from a location near the courthouse.

The man at the centre of the bid for freedom has a history of attacking prison officers and has escaped from custody in the past.

The escape plan was, according to one Garda source, “chilling”.

The source said: “The modus operandi was like something out of a film.”

Normally, there are two uniformed unarmed gardaí on duty when the circuit court is sitting. Aware of the absence of armed gardaí during most hearings, associates of the criminal put together a plan to exploit this to spring the criminal.

According to a well-placed source: “The plan was that a number of armed gunmen would drive up to the front of the courthouse and rush into the Court Room No 1 on the ground floor where their buddy was due to appear.

“On getting him away from the custody of prison offers at gunpoint, they were to rush out and speed off on a number of motorbikes. If the plan was not uncovered through good Garda intelligence, he could have been sprung in under minutes with no armed resistance.”

Gardaí believe the plan was aborted when “spotters” for the gang who were in the court public gallery sent out word of the armed Garda presence in the court.

Armed detectives took up positions at all doors in Courtroom No 1 where Judge Carroll Moran was sitting. The building was also searched before it was opened to the public.

One legal figure said: “The last time I saw as many armed gardaí at Limerick Courthouse was 10 years ago when five men were brought there to be sentenced to life by Judge Paul Carney for the murder of Kieran Keane.”