Manhunt underway after prisoner escapes from custody during hospital visit

David Raleigh

Two separate investigations are underway into how a violent prisoner escaped custody while attending a hospital in Limerick on Wednesday.

John Moloney (23), South Claughaun Road, Garryowen, Limerick, had been on the run for 24 hours on Thursday.

Moloney was one year into a four and a half year sentence at Limerick Prison for committing arson.

He fled from prison officers while attending St John’s Hospital for treatment to one of his hands.

A Garda manhunt was continuing to find Moloney, who was suspected to have been picked up in a vehicle by an accomplice.

A statement released on Thursday by the Irish Prison Service said: “The Irish Prison Service can confirm that a prisoner has escaped from lawful custody while on escort to St. John's Hospital in Limerick yesterday afternoon.”

“An Garda Síochána were notified immediately and provided with all the relevant information in relation to the prisoner,” the statement went on.

“The Irish Prison Service is currently investigating the circumstances of the escape.”

A member of the Garda Press Office also confirmed that Gardaí had launched an investigation.

“Gardaí were alerted by the Irish Prison Service to an incident where a prisoner escaped from lawful custody at a hospital in Limerick city, Wednesday 12th November 2025,” the garda spokesman said.

“An Garda Síochána continues to liaise with the Irish Prison Service and investigations are ongoing,” they added.

Prison sources said the IPS investigation was centred around how Moloney managed to escape from the prison officers who accompanied him from Limerick Prison to the hospital.

Moloney was jailed last November after pleading guilty to petrol-bombing a house and damaging vehicles with a hurley.

Moloney’s sentencing hearing at Limerick Circuit Court heard he threatened an injured party and told them, “I’m going to eradicate you”, before attacking a car with a hurley stick.

"He threatened to ‘kill him and his son’. He was in a frenzy,” prosecuting counsel John O’Sullivan told the court.

The occupants of the house firebombed by Moloney and others were left terrified by the ordeal, the court heard.