Brixton Prison IRA escape 1991 be one of the masterminds behind the 1983 escape. (Marley was shot dead by loyalists in 1987.) On 10 June 1981, eight IRA members on remand, including Angelo Fusco, Paul Magee and Joe Doherty, escaped from Crumlin Road Jail. The prisoners took prison officers hostage using three handguns that had been smuggled into the prison, took their uniforms and shot their way out of the prison. On the 25 September 1983 38 Provisional IRA prisoners escaped from the HM Maze prison after taking control of their prison block and driving to freedom in a prison van. It was the biggest
Maze Prison escape or hijack vehicles. The British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary immediately activated a contingency plan and by 4:25 pm a cordon of vehicle check points were in place around the prison, and others were later in place in strategic positions across Northern Ireland, resulting in the recapture of one prisoner at 11:00 pm. Twenty prison officers were injured during the escape, thirteen were kicked and beaten, four stabbed, and two shot. One prison warder, James Ferris, who had been stabbed, died after suffering a heart attack during the escape. The escape was a propaganda coup and morale boost for the