No armed escort was grave error - Brockwell arrest

AFTER Ireland’s air and sea ports were on high alert following the escape of a violent and dangerous prisoner who stabbed two prison officers, the spotlight rightly turned to the vexed issue of security. 

The question that goes to the heart of this fiasco is why an armed Garda escort was withdrawn when a convicted bank robber with a history of extreme violence was brought to Tallaght Hospital for treatment?

Clearly, though he was arrested in Belfast last night, his escape was planned down to the access to a knife, possibly concealed in a hospital toilet cubicle by an accomplice. It’s a scenario reminiscent of The Godfather.