Brixton Prison IRA escape 1991 Brixton Prison IRA escape 1991 On the 7 July 1991 two Provisional IRA volunteers Pearse McAuley and his cellmate Nessan Quinlivan escaped from HM Prison Brixton using two hand guns smuggled into them and subduing a prison guard. It was one of the most serious IRA escapes from a prison since the 1983 Maze Prison escape During the Troubles, Irish republican prisoners had escaped from custody "en masse" on several occasions. On 17 November 1971, nine prisoners dubbed the "Crumlin Kangaroos" escaped from Crumlin Road Jail when rope ladders were thrown over the wall. Two prisoners were recaptured, but the
Yatala Labour Prison After escaping into school grounds they were recaptured, with two of the police injured. Six prisoners escaped from the jail in 1979 after an attempted mass break-out by thirty. A wall that was under repair and covered in scaffolding was used as part of the escape, but all six escapees were soon recaptured. There was poor morale amongst inmates in the 1980s leading to a major prison riot. Sixty prisoners went on a rampage on 22 March 1983, and lit fires, destroying the roof of A division. The government saw this as an opportunity to restructure Yatala, rather than simply