Garda killer checks into Derry hospital

Garda killer Martin McDermott has signed himself into hospital north of the border so gardaí cannot catch up with him.

The 29-year-old is suffering from a serious back injury after crashing a car just days after being released from prison.

McDermott, from Raphoe, was jailed for seven years in 2011 for the manslaughter of Garda Gary McLoughlin in Burt in 2009.

However he was released in July, almost two years early, for good behaviour.

He was brought to Letterkenny General Hospital two weeks ago by ambulance after he was involved in a serious car crash.

He suffered broken bones and cracked ribs and was due to have a back brace fitted but fled the hospital after he thought gardaí were coming to interview him.

McDermott, who had 97 previous convictions, fled across the border and has now signed himself into Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry for treatment.

Gardaí are now monitoring his situation as he was banned from driving for 20 years as part of his sentence for killing Garda McLoughlin. A source said: “He fled from Letterkenny Hospital because he thought gardaí were going to lift him.

“He shouldn’t have been driving that car but he was in agony and had to go to hospital for treatment.

“When he thought gardaí were coming to interview him, he pulled a drip out of his arm and fled out of the hospital door.

“He was in Derry for a while but he has had to sign himself into hospital because he was in so much pain.

“But the gardaí are still determined to interview him so if he comes back across the border, they will be on the lookout for him,” the source added.