Prisoner found hanging in cell

A NOTORIOUS criminal from the North-East, who spent most of his adult life in jail, was found hanging from the window of his prison cell at the weekend.

Barry Smith, a serial thief who went on a crime rampage after serving time for the brutal beating and robbery of an elderly man, is believed to have committed suicide. The 24-year-old’s body was found late on Saturday as many of his fellow inmates in Roscommon’s Castlerea prison were watching a play, Someone to Watch Over Me, in a recreation area.

The day before, he appeared before Drogheda District Court on 26 charges of larceny, theft and criminal damage. He was already serving an 18-month sentence for burglary after being convicted last month. These crimes occurred when Smith was released from prison after serving more than four years for the 1997 assault and robbery of 79-year-old Dundalk man Bernard Traynor.