Two convicted murderers and a man serving time for an attempted hijacking are all on the run after breaking the terms of temporary release or escaping from the custody of prison officers.
All three - Dean Michael Woods, David McCord and Lee Price - are described as being unlawfully at large.
McCord, convicted of the 2003 stabbing and strangling of partner Nichola Dickson was in the custody of prison officers at a property on the Crumlin Road in north Belfast when he escaped yesterday.
The 54-year-old, who originally received a life sentence with a minimum tariff of 11 years, was last seen on the Castlereagh Road in the east of the city at around 4.30pm,
He was wearing a green jacket and black tracksuit bottoms and carrying a red carrier bag. Police have appealed to anyone who has seen him to make contact but warned not to approach him. They also have asked McCord to hand himself him.
McCord was on pre-release as early as 2013, a move that provoked anger among Ms Dickson’s family. They said they had been “kept in the dark” over her killer’s release from prison.
Ms Dickson (26) was strangled and stabbed in the bedroom of her home in Ballycarry, Co Antrim, in January 2003.
Dean Michael Woods (46) was first convicted in 1997 for beating to death Brian Peden with a golf club in Coleraine two years earlier.
The then 18-year-old was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum tariff of 15 years. He had been on pre-release training but has failed to return to Maghaberry Prison.
Woods is described by the Department of Justice as being of slim build, 5′5 with a fresh complexion and brown eyes and hair.
He has tattoos on his chest and upper left arm, one of a heart, the other a tribal line.
He was convicted of murdering 26-year-old Mr Peden in the Ballysally estate outside Coleraine in a premeditated attack in December 1995.
In 2007, Woods attempted to have his 15-year minimum tariff reduced but this was rejected by the High Court.
Then Lord Chief Justice Brian Kerr wrote he had “no hesitation in rejecting” the arguments made by Woods’ counsel.
“The prisoner had clearly intended to carry out a violent attack,” Chief Justice Kerr wrote.
“He not only armed himself with a potentially lethal weapon, he aimed blows at the victim’s head in a manner calculated to maximise the injury inflicted.
Police also appealed for information as they look for 25-year-old Lee Price, convicted in relation to an attempted hijacking that took place in September 2021.
Price has since breached the conditions of his release from prison on licence, the PSNI said.
He is described as being approximately 5ft 11in tall, of medium build, with ginger hair and blue eyes.
Members of the public have been warned not to approach him directly, while police appealed to Price to hand himself in.
