HM Prison Maze name. Republican and loyalist prisoners were housed according to group. They organised themselves along military lines and exercised wide control over their respective H-Blocks. The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) leader Billy Wright was shot dead in December 1997 by two Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) prisoners. The prisoners also played a significant role in the Northern Ireland peace process. On 9 January 1998, the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam, paid a surprise visit to the prison to talk to members of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) including Johnny Adair, Sam "Skelly" McCrory and Michael Stone. They
Brixton Prison IRA escape 1991 escape from a British prison in history. Both Pearse & Nessan were awaiting trial on charges relating to a suspected IRA plot to assassinate a former brewery company chairman, Sir Charles Tidbury. The escape happened at a period of heightened IRA activity in mainland Britain. In February 1991 the IRA had fired mortars at 10 Downing Street, home of the British Prime Minister and 11 days later bombed Victoria and Paddington stations in London resulting in one death and dozens of injuries. Two pistols were smuggled into Brixton prison to the IRA volunteers. When a prison guard came to open