Three men being questioned in relation to a serious attack on a prison officer at Limerick prison on Wednesday night have been released without charge but gardai have confirmed that a file will be prepared for the DPP.
On release the men were transferred to Cork prison.
They were arrested yesterday and questioned for several hours at Roxboro station on suspicion of assaulting and causing serious bodily harm to Prison Officer Alan Kavanagh (39), under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.
Mr Kavanagh was locking up 18 prisoners at 7.20 p.m. when he was allegedly attacked by three of them.
Two were stated to have held him down while another, using an improvised knife made of two razor blades fused into two toothbrush handles, slashed Mr Kavanagh down the face from behind his ear and across his neck.
Although he was bleeding heavily, he hit one of his assailants with a bunch of keys, forcing him to release his grip. The officer got away from the other two and outside a gate to raise the alarm.
He was taken to Limerick Regional Hospital where he received more than 60 stitches. He was discharged early yesterday morning.