A garda manhunt is under way after a dangerous criminal was released from prison by mistake on the same day he was jailed for two years.
The 30-year-old burglary gang member, who is linked to slain mob boss ‘Fat’ Andy Connors, is missing from the Midlands Prison.
He was returned to the Co Laois prison on November 25 from Dublin’s Criminal Courts of Justice, where he was handed a five-year sentence, with the final three suspended, for money laundering and tax-dodging offences.
It is understood he was released by mistake due to a “processing error” because of a certain issue with multiple warrants connected to him.
“He was given even more jail time at the court hearing in Dublin but was then able to walk out of the prison. It was a mistake but no doubt a bizarre incident,” a source said.
The criminal was convicted of money laundering and tax-dodging offences
It is understood that the on-the-run gangster had been in custody since June 2021, for a variety of offences.
He is classified as “extremely dangerous” and has previously rammed garda cars when they attempted to stop him. According to information obtained by gardaí, he has been driving around in a blue Volkswagen Golf since his accidental release.
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Officers have been told to watch properties linked to the suspect in Carlow and a rural location near Tallaght.
The criminal was convicted of money laundering and tax-dodging offences following a jury trial in October. It followed a major investigation by officers from Dublin’s south division, which resulted in a number of convictions.
When contacted, a spokesman for the Irish Prison Service said it does not comment on individual prisoners.
Last month, Dublin Circuit Court ordered that €3,800 be seized from the criminal, as well as a BMW 5 series, and that an expensive caravan, seized by gardaí, be forfeited to the State.
He is believed to have been an active member in one of the country’s largest burglary gangs since he was a juvenile and was mentored by ‘Fat’ Andy and a close female associate of the gang boss.
It is possible that the 30-year-old may have fled the country but sources say it is more likely he is still here
He is understood to be close to William Connors (48), who was jailed for eight years last month at Naas Circuit Court for conspiracy to commit burglary in relation to leading gardaí on a high-speed chase across two counties after the burglary of a rural house in 2022.
The wider gang is suspected of making millions of euro from burglaries over decades and are targets of multiple ongoing garda investigations.
It is possible that the 30-year-old may have fled the country but sources say it is more likely he is still here.
His mentor ‘Fat’ Andy was shot dead in an unsolved murder over 10 years ago.
Burglary gang boss Connors (46), a father of six, was killed by a masked man at his home in Saggart, Co Dublin, in August 2014.
Gardaí believe the gang is still “very active” and members of it are suspects in a nationwide burglary spree. They are thought to have used children and female getaway drivers to carry out some of their crimes.