Manhunt continues for escaped criminal

Gardaí are continuing to search for a convicted criminal who stabbed two prison officers yesterday and escaped from custody while on a visit to Tallaght Hospital in Dublin.

Derek Brockwell had been taken to the hospital for a routine appointment from the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise, where he is serving a seven year sentence for a string of robberies in Dublin.

He attacked the two officers accompanying him with a knife and left the scene on a waiting motorbike driven by another man.

Brockwell came here in 2012 after absconding from a sentence of 22 life terms in England.

Members of the public who spot Brockwell are encouraged to contact gardaí and not to approach him.