Two prison officers stabbed by escapee prisoner at Tallaght Hospital

A toddler is being treated in Tallaght Hospital after falling from the second-floor balcony of an apartment

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thumbnail: A toddler is being treated in Tallaght Hospital after falling from the second-floor balcony of an apartment
Paul Williams

Gardai have launched a major manhunt after two prison officers were stabbed when the prisoner they were escorting staged a violent escape from Tallaght Hospital.

One of the officers was stabbed in the arm, while the other was stabbed in the stomach when the prisoner suddenly produced a knife after arriving for treatment under escort at the hospital.

The prisoner, believed to be a UK national and originally from London, was picked up by an accomplice on a motorbike and driven away from the hospital at speed.

It is understood the man, who is in his early fifties, was serving a prison sentence imposed in 2012 for a series of armed robberies.

The incident happened at 3.45pm this afternoon.

A city-wide garda manhunt is now underway in a bid to catch the prisoner.