Ger Dundon: on remand

A DRAMATIC attempt to free a leading member of Limerick's McCarthy/Dundon gang from prison has been thwarted by gardaí.

Gang members devised a far-fetched plan to impersonate gardaí using fake documentation and uniforms and request that Ger Dundon (24) be taken from Limerick prison to be questioned in relation to another crime. The gang planned to use a fake section 42 garda warrant, which allows a prisoner to be taken to a station to be questioned, to free the criminal.

The gang was also planning to strip and repaint a car to look like a garda squad car to take Dundon from the prison, the Sunday Tribune has learned.

The ambitious escape bid came to the attention of gardaí through intelligence. It is understood prison authorities were informed about the planned breakout attempt last week. A spokesman for the Irish Prison Service (IPS) said: "The prison authorities and the garda authorities are in constant contact with regard to all prison security matters."

If the criminals had followed through with their plan, sources say it would be unlikely to have succeeded. There are procedures in place at prisons before an inmate is handed over to gardaí with a section 42 warrant. "There are several communications between ourselves and the gardaí before a prisoner is handed over. This was a harebrained plan and it wouldn't have worked," said a source.

Ger Dundon is currently on remand on serious charges at Limerick prison.