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A dangerous armed robber who “terrorized” his victims with an imitation firearm, knives and a wheel clamp has escaped from Mountjoy prison.
Stephen Bollard escaped from temporary release yesterday working in the officers’ mess.
The alarm was raised around 5 p.m. when prison officials realized that he had not returned.
The 29-year-old was jailed for six years in May 2018 for carrying out a series of robberies in the capital.
The Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Bollard was identified by CCTV in most of the six robberies and was out on bail for the first offense when he committed subsequent offenses.
When he was arrested in connection with one of the robberies, he was searched at a garda station and € 270 worth of cocaine was found hidden in a plastic bag hidden behind his scrotum.
Bollard, residing at Gracefield Avenue, Artane and Harmonstown Road, Harmonstown, Dublin, pleaded guilty to six robberies at various locations in North Dublin and possession of cocaine between April and November 2014.
He left the country and went to live in Scotland with his father in late 2014, but was returned to Ireland in early 2018 with a European arrest warrant after serving a robbery sentence in Edinburgh.
His crimes included two counts of robbery at the Raheny DART station in May 2014.
Judge Martin Nolan noted that Bollard had used the weapons during the robberies to “terrorize” the people he encountered.
He said he had no doubt Bollard was stealing to fuel his drug problem at the time, but said he must have known what he was doing was seriously wrong.
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Judge Nolan took into account Bollard’s guilty plea and cooperation, as well as steps he had taken to reform himself, and noted the contents of a psychological report submitted to the court.
A spokesman for a prison official told Dublin Live that gardai had been notified of Bollard’s escape.
He said: “The Irish Prison Service can confirm on 26 October 2020 that a prisoner on temporary release to work at Mountjoy prison has escaped illegally. A Garda Siochana has been notified.”
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