Overcrowded Cork jail ripe for inmate deaths, warn prison officers
The brutal killing of Gary Douch in Mountjoy shocked the nation, but according to John Clinton, of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA), overcrowding in Cork jail is even worse. He said that on August 3, when they last did a head count, Mountjoy was 57 inmates over capacity, but in Cork there were 111 extra.
Cork Prison has capacity for 150 prisoners, but has 261, and the POA said new guidelines issued on behalf of the Government by Michael Mellet, to protect prisoners meant even more overcrowding would result in Cork jail if an alternative wasn’t found quickly.
