Larry Marley to come to fruition, he joined the blanket protest in the Maze's H-Blocks for four years. In September 1983, he helped Brendan McFarlane, Bobby Storey and Gerry Kelly to orchestrate the successful mass escape of 38 republican prisoners from the Maze. It was the largest prison escape in British penal history. According to a BBC documentary about the escape, Marley was the mastermind, having come up with the idea with the aim of embarrassing British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, as the Maze was considered to be one of the world's most secure prisons. Marley, unlike his three co-conspirators, did not
HM Prison Maze end of August before the hunger strike was called off in October. On 25 September 1983, the Maze saw the largest breakout of prisoners from a British prison. Thirty-eight prisoners hijacked a prison meals lorry and smashed their way out. During the breakout, four prison officers were stabbed, including one, James Ferris, who died of a heart attack as a result. Another officer was shot in the head by Gerry Kelly, and several other officers were injured by the escapees. Nineteen of the prisoners were soon recaptured, but the other nineteen escaped. In March 1997, an IRA escape attempt was