Prisoners escape by walking out back door of court

A Limerick man who was clocked driving at 140km/h during a car chase with gardaí proved too quick for red-faced prison officers yesterday when he escaped custody and ran out of Ennis courthouse along with another prisoner.

A manhunt was continuing last night for 22-year-old prisoner Jason Freyne who walked out the back door of Ennis courthouse at 3.15pm yesterday.

Freyne fled after another prisoner, 18-year old Keith Garrihy, of Beechgrove, Newmarket-on-Fergus, walked out the back door and ran for the gate moments earlier.

However, Garrihy’s spell of freedom was short-lived: He was picked up by gardaí just before 5pm, 4km away in the village of Clarecastle, which is in the direction of his home in Newmarket-on-Fergus.

Garrihy was brought back to the cells at Ennis courthouse to be returned to Limerick prison.

On hearing of the prisoners’ escape, Judge Patrick Durcan adjourned the few remaining custodial cases to next Wednesday “because of the emergency situation downstairs”.

Freyne and Garrihy were among 12 prisoners remanded in custody to appear before the court yesterday. They had both had their cases dealt with and had been returned to the prison cells when they made their escape.

Afterwards, officers studied CCTV recordings of footage of the two making good their escape.

Freyne, of Ash Avenue, Carew Park, Limerick, has 46 previous convictions and had his dangerous driving case dealt with before 12.30pm.

Judge Patrick Durcan had heard from Inspector Tom Kennedy that Freyne sped away at 140km/h from a pursuing garda in a chase along the M18 motorway in April this year.

Freyne apologised to the garda and the man from whom he stole a car. However, when asked by Judge Durcan to apologise to other people affected by his dangerous driving, including an elderly cyclist, another garda, and road users, Freyne refused.

He had pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and the unauthorised taking of a vehicle on April 19, 2015. Judge Durcan adjourned sentencing to a later date.

A spokesman for the Irish Prison Service confirmed that two prisoners had escaped from the custody of prison officers while on escorts to Ennis District Court.

He said: “Gardaí have been informed and one prisoner has since been re-captured. The matter is being investigated by the Irish Prison Service.”