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 Following Franco's death in October 1975, the new head of state, king Juan Carlos, signed a partial amnesty. Despite this, over 600 political prisoners remained incarcerated throughout Spain, with a substantial number of them having connections to the Basque separatist group ETA. The previous most successful escape involving ETA prisoners had occurred in December 1969, when 15 political prisoners, including 10 ETA members, had escaped from Basauri prison in Biscay. The Segovia escape would be the largest escape since the Spanish Civil War and the biggest of numerous escape attempts organised by ETA. Those planning to escape learnt from Communist