Athens - A Greek court handed down a suspended sentence to a prison guard on Thursday, four days after two of the country's most notorious criminals escaped from a maximum security prison by helicopter - for a second time.

The prison guard from Athens' maximum Korydallos prison was released from custody after a court handed him a three-year suspended sentence.

Three other guards and the pilot of the helicopter arrested after Sunday's breakout were cleared of all charges.

A nationwide manhunt is still underway to capture kidnapper and armed robber Vassilis Palaiokostas and Albanian criminal Alket Rizal.

Both Palaiokostas and Rizal had escaped from the same prison when a hijacked helicopter landed at the Korydallos prison's central yard during exercise time three years ago.

At the time, the guards had failed to react because they thought it was a visit by government officials.

In the latest escape, the two men, who had been in solitary detention but exercised in the same area, were smuggled out after a helicopter landed on the jail's roof, then dropped them a rope ladder to lift them away.

Officials have suspended nine prison guards over the jailbreak, which has embarrassed the ruling conservative government.

Authorities believe prison employees were probably bribed to assist in the Hollywood-like escape and the justice ministry has ordered an investigation into the bank accounts of all guards.

Vassilis Palaiokostas, 43, was serving a 25-year sentence for the kidnapping of a Greek businessman. The other escaped prisoner, Rizai, 35, was serving a life sentence for manslaughter. (dpa)