Gardai Alert, Christopher Doyle, Paddy Logan murder

Killer flees his guards during visit to hospital

DANGEROUS: Christopher Doyle is on the run after escaping from St James’s Hospital

GARDAI have launched a massive manhunt after one of the country's most dangerous prisoners escaped from a hospital this week while visiting his sick dad.


Killer Christopher Doyle, who has a long history of robbing vulnerable pensioners, is on the run after disappearing from Dublin's St James's Hospital on Wednesday. The 39-year-old is regarded as being a massive threat to the public and should not be approached.

Every Garda station in the country has been warned to be on the lookout for the heartless thug amid fears that he could go on a robbery spree. The father of six was jailed for 12 years for manslaughter in 2002 after he and his brother beat pensioner Paddy Logan to death in Co. Meath. The heartless thieves escaped with just €50.

In 1996 Doyle was jailed for three years at Bournemouth Crown Court after breaking into the bedroom of an elderly woman. He viciously beat her about the head and escaped with a small sum of money. The frail pensioner never recovered from the attack and died three months later. In a sick twist, Doyle went on the run after getting compassionate release to visit his own frail father. Doyle's father is currently seriously ill in St James's Hospital and the criminal applied for temporary release last week to visit him.

Suspicious

He was taken from Mountjoy prison by a prison officer to the hospital on Wednesday morning and it is understood that he asked to go to the toilet but did not emerge. The prison officers became suspicious and went into the toilet and realised that he had escaped through the window. Gardai were immediately informed about the escape and a bulletin was issued to every station with a photo of Doyle in a bid to capture him.

The Irish Prison Service has launched an investigation into the embarrassing incident. It is understood that because jail bosses granted Doyle a limited form of temporary release for the hospital visit that he did not necessarily have to be handcuffed. If inmates are taken to hospital for medical treatment they are cuffed as a matter of policy.

Garda sources who have dealt with Christy Doyle during his life of crime say he is "depraved, ruthless and a massive threat to anyone he encounters".

HORRIFIC: Christopher and John Doyle attacked Peter and Paddy Logan in their home

Another source says Doyle is one of the most dangerous offenders that he has ever encountered. In June 2000, Co. Meath farmer Paddy Logan died after Doyle and his brother John broke into his farmhouse. The thugs brutally beat Mr Logan and his brother Peter.The brothers had been listening to a match on the radio when the Doyles broke in demanding money.


Paddy Logan died from an accumulation of blood around the heart caused by rupture of the aortic wall. Post mortem results showed that the violent assault led to raised blood pressure which caused the rupture.

After killing Paddy, the Doyles took the equivalent of €50 from Peter Logan's pockets before escaping.

Christopher Doyle was jailed for 12 years for his part in the robbery, while his brother was handed a 15-year term. Peter Logan was so traumatised by the robbery that he never returned to the home he shared with his late brother and said that his life was ruined by the nightmare incident.

He described the sentences the brothers received as "not half long enough". "It's all over now thanks be to God, but I'll never forget it. They robbed me of my brother, of my property, of my way of life.They left me nothing but pain and it gets worse by the day."

ATTACK: John Doyle

Christopher Doyle is currently serving an eight-year sentence for dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm after he smashed a stolen car into an innocent family in Co. Tipperary in 2010. He is also serving concurrent sentences of 27 months after being found guilty of a string of robberies.

Threatened

He appeared in court in May 2011 to answer charges that he carried out two robberies, hi-jacked a car and threatened innocent people with "a syringe full of the virus". He admitted to robbing the Number One store on Kevin Street in Dublin in July 2010 and the robbery of Applegreen garage in Inchicore in November 2010. He was on bail at the time of the second robbery.

Evidence was heard that Doyle entered the Number One shop holding "what appeared to be a gun" under a jacket that was thrown over his arm. He demanded that the till be opened before pushing a worker against the wall. He then grabbed the man's arm, pinned it behind his back and pushed him to the ground.

He ordered him to stay there and warned him "don't get up or you are dead". He escaped with €246. He was later identified on CCTV footage and arrested. He was on bail for this robbery when in November 2010 he approached a man who was parked in the Applegreen garage car park in Inchicore.

Fear

He went up to the young driver and said, "what's the story?", before saying, "how would you like a syringe full of the virus put in your neck?" The driver of the Ford Focus was in fear for his life and said he didn't want any trouble and handed over €325. Doyle ordered the driver into the passenger seat, but he managed to get out and run away. Doyle then drove off.

The car was later recovered, but had been crashed in the meantime. He was again identified by CCTV footage and said he was on a cocktail of drugs because his father had had a "massive heart attack".

The judge jailed him for 27 months and said both robberies were very traumatic for the victims. Doyle was brought up as a traveller, has a huge number of addresses and is known not to stay in the same place too long. This is making it more difficult for gardai to track him down.

Links

Doyle has 21 previous convictions for manslaughter, robbery, public order offences and failing to turn up in court. He claims that he was sent out to rob from the age of seven. He has strong links with the UK and has a string of convictions there for robberies. Gardai have also issued his photo to the port and airport authorities in case he attempts to flee the country.

Last May, the Sunday World revealed how 55-year-old John Doyle terrorised an elderly woman with a screwdriver and hijacked the car of a terrified nun just weeks after being released over the Logan manslaughter. He was handed a 15-year sentence after bringing his teenage son and a 15-yearold girl on a theft spree. The judge said the case was "depraved and shocking" and that "society needs to be protected" from him.