The World - News from July 21, 1988
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A man serving a life sentence for the IRA murder of Britain’s Lord Mountbatten whipped out a pistol and opened fire in a Dublin court cell in an unsuccessful escape attempt, Irish police said. Thomas McMahon, who was convicted of designing and planting on a yacht the bomb that killed the cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and four others in 1979, was quickly overpowered. The Irish Republican Army, fighting to end British rule of Northern Ireland, claimed responsibility for the killing, although McMahon proclaimed his innocence. He made the escape bid while awaiting a hearing concerning injuries he allegedly received in prison.
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