Paul Ward, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin, threatened to hang a prison officer during the 1997 Mountjoy Prison siege unless he was given chocolate, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court was told.
Det Insp Hubert Collins said Ward also threatened to stab a prison officer with a blood-filled syringe unless he was given a newspaper.
Ward (35), of Windmill Park, Crumlin, Dublin, pleaded guilty to false imprisonment of a prison officer during the Mountjoy Prison riots on January 4th to January 6th, 1997. He was then on remand on a charge of conspiracy to murder Ms Guerin.
Mr Patrick MacEntee SC, defending, said his client denied ever handling a blood-filled syringe during the siege.
Det Insp Collins told Mr Des Dockery BL, prosecuting, that on January 4th, 1997, five prison officers working in the separation unit in Mountjoy were taken hostage by six prisoners after a planned rooftop protest failed.
The prisoners were armed with two blood-filled syringes, an iron bar and a makeshift razor. Witnesses reported that Ward held one of the blood-filled syringes as well as sheets and duvet covers used to make a rope. The rope was tied from a pipe to a door handle to prevent the door to the separation unit from being opened.
Later, they made five demands concerning prison conditions, Ward's then pending conspiracy to murder trial, and the right to speak to a representative from the Department of Justice. One officer was released after half an hour and the other four were held for 53 hours.
Ward was seen by a prison officer on January 5th to empty the syringe he was carrying and fill it with his blood. On the same day, a rope made of shoe laces was pulled around a prison officer's neck. One end was tied to a radiator pipe and the other to a door. Det Insp Collins said this door was locked but if there had been an attempt to force it open the prison officer would have choked.
The following day, Sky News broadcast a report that Ward was the gang ringleader. Ward told negotiators he would start beating the hostages unless the news report was changed. Det Insp Collins said he (Ward) also threatened to stab a prison officer with a blood-filled syringe unless he was given an Irish Independent.
Prison officers described Ward as both the spokesperson and the ringleader. He played a positive role in ending the siege and when it ended, he walked peacefully from the separation unit.
Det Insp Collins said the prison officer who was released after half an hour had since returned to work having taken 18 months' leave. Two other prison officers were released from the service on medical grounds and the other two were still on sick leave.
He told Mr MacEntee he had not inquired how Ward came to be held in the separation unit. He was also unaware that when taken to another part of the prison Ward took an overdose of heroin before being taken back to the separation unit. That unit had been described to him as a high-security wing.
Mr MacEntee said in reply to Judge Kieran O'Connor that he was suggesting his client was at "a very low ebb" at the time of the siege and that he had been agitated, depressed and suicidal after a 14-day drug detoxification.
Det Insp Collins said he did not know where the media got the report of Ward being the ringleader or how he was given a letter during the siege indicating his nephew was dying of leukaemia. He agreed it appeared Ward was instrumental in having the first prison officer released and tried to have more released.
Father Fergal McDonagh, head prison chaplain, said Ward was remorseful for what happened. He was given close confinement for two months when taken to Portlaoise Prison. Those involved in the siege were still held under a more punitive regime.
The case continues today.