Report: McDermott had escaped from prison before
It has emerged that a prisoner who escaped from an open prison earlier this month had absconded from the same facility once before.
The Department of Justice has released details of a report from the Irish Prison Service on the escape of Martin McDermott from Loughan House in Co. Cavan on March 15.
The 25-year-old from Raphoe in Co. Donegal, who was serving a sentence for the manslaughter of Garda Gary McLoughlin in December 2009, was arrested in Derry the following day.
Following the escape the Justice Minister Alan Shatter ordered a full report into the incident.
In it, the Prison Service blames an unnamed prison officer for the decision to move the prisoner from the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise to the open centre in Cavan - a decision the Justice Minister said was wrong.
He said that sufficient consideration had not been given to the gravity of the heinous offence which had been committed.
The Prison Service report also shows that Mr McDermott was previously in custody at Loughan House in 2007, and that he absconded from there on November 27 that year.
He returned to custody six days later on December 3.
