Police arrest escaped armed robber in Belfast

Escaped Portlaoise prisoner Derek Brockwell was recaptured by police outside a pub in Belfast city centre last evening.

Police said they used a taser to detain the convicted armed robber. When his whereabouts became known, officers called for an armed rapid reaction unit which moved in and executed his arrest.

Brockwell was taken to hospital after his arrest. He also had a stab wound and the PSNI was trying to determine whether or not it was self-inflicted during the operation to capture him.

It is understood he was arrested while having a drink at a Wetherspoons pub on Bedford Street.

Brockwell (53) escaped from the custody of prison officers while in Tallaght hospital, Dublin, on Tuesday.

Fabian Beickhorasani from Glengormley in north Belfast said he was approaching the pub around 6.45pm when he saw a “commotion” outside .

Confrontation

“A man was being taken out by police. Tables and chairs outside the pub were being tossed around and there was a bit of a confrontation,” he said.

“As I got closer I could see about six or seven officers around the man; they seemed to have him on the ground.” He did not witness police tasering Brockwell, but he did see him on the ground in an apparent injured state and an ambulance arriving to take him to hospital.

The pub remained open last night but an area outside was cordoned off, with disturbed chairs and a table showing the earlier incident.

Brockwell is wanted in the Republic to complete a seven-year jail term but also wanted in England to finish a life term he was nearing the end of.

Gardaí believe he may have paid people he met in jail to help him escape custody.

The separate criminal and Irish Prison Service investigations into how he fled after stabbing two prison officers with a concealed knife is focused on studying the network of criminals he has been in contact with over the past two years.

The Prison Officers’ Association is to meet with prison service director general today. It is requesting its members be issued with stab-proof vests and asp batons .

Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald has ordered the prison service to prepare her a report into the attack.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny insisted the absence of an armed escort for Brockwell was not due to budgetary cutbacks.