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,
Sarposa prison tunneling escape of 2011 on whether the escaped prisoners can be expected to join in larger-scale attacks. Political assassinations in the Kandahar area are reportedly down in the last year, but suspicions about government officials, and their inability to protect civilians, has remained high. In response to the escape, the Afghan Uniformed Police established a checkpoint directly across the highway from the prison, directly above the tunnel exit. The security around the prison was also greatly enhanced by coalition and Afghan forces. The head of the team investigating the escape, Mohammed Tahir, further cemented the likelihood that there was complicity from a number of