Séamus McElwaine judge describing him as a "dangerous killer" and recommending he spend at least 30 years in prison. On 25 September 1983, McElwaine was involved in the Maze Prison escape, the largest break-out of prisoners in Europe since World War II and in British prison history. 38 republican prisoners, armed with 6 handguns, hijacked a prison meals lorry and smashed their way out of the Maze prison. After the escape he joined an IRA Active Service Unit operating in the area of the border between Counties Monaghan and Fermanagh. The unit targeted police and military patrols with gun and bomb attacks,
Segovia prison break Segovia prison break The Segovia prison break () occurred in Segovia, Spain on 5 April 1976 when 29 political prisoners escaped from Segovia prison. This was the largest prison break in Spain since the Spanish Civil War. The prisoners escaped by means of tunnels they had excavated and then through the prison's drainage system. Hidden in a truck, they fled in the direction of the French border. Before reaching the border, their escape plans broke down and they found themselves stranded and lost in woodland in Navarre. Most of them were recaptured after a confrontation with the Civil Guards in