Solicitor determined to take action on prison slopping-out

A MAVERICK solicitor has vowed to press ahead with a mass claim for compensation on behalf of hundreds of prisoners who allege their human rights have been violated by being forced to slop out.

However, Limerick solicitor John Devane said the action has been put on hold as he is still recovering from illness.

The solicitor, who contracted MRSA a number of years ago, was struck down by pneumonia shortly after he announced plans for a class action suit by former and serving prisoners.

Mr Devane specialises in high-profile actions and was one of a number of solicitors who represented army deafness claimants. He claims to have signed up nearly 1,000 inmates, many of them high profile, as part of the action.

This could not be independently verified.

Prison Service management and the Department of Justice have vowed to vigorously fight the claims.

Initial legal advice received by the Government suggested few of the claims would be successful.

Inmates in prisons including Mountjoy, Cork and Limerick still use buckets if they need to use the toilet during lock-down periods.

These are then “slopped out” in the morning.

Mr Devane cited the case of a prisoner in Scotland who successfully used the European Convention on Human Rights to sue prison management, claiming his rights were violated by being forced to slop out.

However, the Government argues there are key differences, that the Scottish inmate had a medical condition and that out-of-cell time in Irish prisons is substantially higher.

In a separate action, a remand prisoner recently secured the right to bring a case against Cork Prison.

Edward Gaffey claimed conditions at the prison, particularly toilet facilities, breached his human rights.

The Government has promised the practice will be phased out but this could take years, when Mountjoy is replaced and refurbishments are carried out at Cork and Limerick.