Two warders slashed by prisoner in knife attack

A ‘PSYCHOTIC and dangerous’ criminal in Dublin’s Mountjoy Prison stabbed two prison officers yesterday with a makeshift weapon in a savage attack.

The criminal, who can not be named as he is before the courts in connection with a separate attack on a prison officer, slashed the two officers with a ‘shiv’ – a homemade knife – at 8am yesterday when they were delivering his breakfast.

One officer was cut above the eye, across the temple and on the arm.

The other was slashed on the hand. Both officers received medical treatment. Gardaí were notified of the incident.

The criminal is already serving a lengthy sentence for a brutal attack on a teenage boy whom he tortured.

He also has other criminal convictions.

A court has previously heard that the prisoner suffers from paranoid delusions.

The inmate was previously under ‘barrier handling’ because of his propensity to violence towards prison staff.

Barrier handling refers to officers having shields and riot gear to protect them from an attack.

However, the inmate in question was removed from barrier handling around six months ago and prison officer sources claim this left staff ‘at risk’.

The Dubliner, in his 20s, is housed in the Challenging Behaviour Unit of the C base of Mountjoy.

A prison source said: ‘We are asking how a prisoner with a proven track record for serious violence against prison officers was taken off a regime that protected staff.

‘He has now seriously attacked two officers.’

The Irish Prison Service confirmed the incident when contacted, adding: ‘Any act of violence against staff is unacceptable and it has been reported to the proper authorities.’