We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
TWO CONVICTED PRISONERS have failed to return to custody after being temporarily released from jail over Christmas, the Irish Prison Service has confirmed.
Some 160 inmates were granted temporary release from Irish prisons over the holiday period. Of those, 158 returned on schedule.
The gardaí have been notified of the two who did not turn up, the Irish Prison Service said. If caught they must serve the remainder of their sentence from the date on which they were released on leave.
They may also face sanctions from the prison governor, which could include the loss of up to 14 days remission for good behaviour.
The Irish Prison Service said applications for temporary release are granted after consideration of public safety, the nature and seriousness of the prisoner’s initial offence, and their behaviour while in custody.
Around 60 per cent of the inmates released before Christmas were serving time in lower-security institutions, while all were nearing the end of their sentences.
should the public not be made aware of the identities of the two?
Why ? They are probably guilty of non payment of TV licence
Possibly not though.
What’s the essential difference in danger probability, for all you know, between them and people released at the end of their sentences? Obviously if they were considered a danger their identities would be shown
Christmas release for criminals, r u feking kidding me.
Your comment and it’s likes make me sick
Are you kidding me? If they didn’t want to be in prison for Christmas, maybe they shouldn’t have committed the crime. This policy would be laughed out of every respectable prison in operation. What moronic system lets an inmate out and actually expects them to return?
“If caught”? So if they’re not caught its just a case of “ah sure, what can ya do?” What a joke
And “May face sanctions”
The poor fellas locked up in that nasty prison with those big bully prison guards shouting at them.
The poor boys had no option really but to return to the safety of the very society they rejected by engaging in crime in the first place.
Give them a hug. !
( I hope my sarcastic-face emoticon comes up here –>
Certainly your contempt did
In my opinion it’s idiotic to say they ‘rejected society’ by breaking the law. For one thing, laws are very selective and can be anal.
They’ve clearly abused a very lax system, if/when caught they should be re-tried and put in full security prisons, this countries a joke, if you want to kill someone do it in Ireland you’ll be out for Christmas and brought hill walking at the weekends ala the black widow a few years back. You’ll also be educated, fed and given a full sky package to help you deal with the boredom , Great little country.
I make that a 99% success rate. The scheme works. Before we jump to conclusions or demand identities we should allow the Gardai do their work and find out why. In the reasons for late returns have ranged from illness to much “celebrating” and yes, occasionally, absconding.
years ago, a convicted murderer was given temporary release. he returned that evening as required, but he murdered someone while on day release. raging I can’t remember details.
maybe this is procedure should be teased out a little more.
idiocy
Bertie Aherne and Brian Cowan?
You hear the same thing every year about this a couple of prisoners not returning to prison after their Christmas BREAK. Lol such a farce the judicial system we have
What judicial system are you talking about. The release of prisoners on temporary release is not a judicial function. In other words its your bloody wonderful politicians who release them, not a judge, not a solicitor, not a barrister. Heres a link to the relevant act. Notice the constant repeated use of the work ‘Minister’, thats our little friends with the mouths and the deceit, not the wigs and the law. Its a tiny read.
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2003/en/act/pub/0034/print.html
If people want to ask why prisoners who are convicted are walking about go to the ‘Minister’. A judge lays down a sentence, the politicians you elect give them time off, simple. Go chat to your local elected representative and ask why someone on temporary release just stabbed someone with a syringe. Do you really think many of these people are ‘safe’ and fit to be out, or is it just because they want lower prison numbers. People should go to google and do a bit of research into how and who does what in our country before they jump to the usual conclusions.
They could have just slept it out. Be in later like the rest of the country
“If caught they must serve the remainder of their sentence from the date on which they were released on leave” … … so if they go missing for a month the remainder of their sentence is completed from the date they left, not the day they returned, so they basically get a month off their sentence?
“They may also face sanctions, which could include the loss of up to 14 days remission for good behaviour.” … … so once they skip for more than 14 days they are quids in?
What an excellent prison system we have!
I think your misreading that. It means that the period of release plus awol time is added back as time not served.
They will start serving the rest of their sentence from the day they are recommitted to prison they are not serving the sentence while unlawfully at large
Shoot to kill! Questions later!
No, wouldn’t be good for the safety of inmates.
You have to be ‘in’ the prison to be classed as an inmate.
Maybe they got a job….
True. They are probably ministers of some dept now or have been appointed to some financial auditing committee for the EU. Wait til you see their pensions…..
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
Non-TCF/GVL Vendors
have your say