Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the temporary escape from custody of a prisoner at Altnagelvin Hospital on 6th October.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesOn 6th October 1975, while being escorted by police officers from Altnagelvin Hospital, Londonderry, to a waiting car, an absconder from St. Patrick's Training College, Belfast, ran off and made good his escape. The youth had been admitted to the hospital on 3rd October 1975 suffering from a head wound.
Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland under what circumstances Eamonn Terence Campbell, 388W who was serving five years' imprisonment for possession of arms and explosives, escaped from custody at Altnagelvin Hospital on Sunday 19th October; and if he will make a statement on the security rules on prisoners undergoing hospital treatment.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesOn 19th October 1975 two prisoners were transferred to Altnagelvin Hospital, Londonderry, from Magilligan Prison for medical treatment. Both prisoners were accommodated in a double room on the third floor under police and Army escort. At 7.45 p.m. one of the prisoners, Eamonn Terence Campbell, who had been escorted by a soldier to the bathroom to have a bath in accordance with hospital requirements, escaped through the bathroom window down the outside wall of the hospital with the aid of a rope. A full search of the hospital grounds and surrounding area was carried out without success. A police inquiry is currently in progress.
It would not be in the interests of security to describe the measures taken by the Prison Service, the RUC and the Army to safeguard prisoners attending hospital and which are kept under continuous review.