Two more Mountjoy deaths ‘must end McDowell’s complacency’

THE deaths of two prisoners in Mountjoy within 12 hours should help shake Justice Minister Michael McDowell out of his complacency, Labour’s justice spokesperson Brendan Howlin said last night.

Describing the situation as “appalling”, Mr Howlin said Mr McDowell had been condemned by the investigations of the people he had appointed.

“Against the background of the worst period experienced in Mountjoy prison for many decades, with three deaths in recent weeks, violent confrontations between prisoners and reports of prison officers standing by in riot gear, the record of the Minister for Justice stands condemned by the findings of his own appointees,” said Mr Howlin.

The two deaths were revealed on the same day as annual reports from the Prisons Inspector and the prison visiting committees raised massive problems in several of the country’s prisons including Mountjoy.

These included reports of severe overcrowding, poor sanitation and easy access to and frequent consumption of drugs.

“The reports of the Inspector of Prisons and various visiting committees depict a very shocking situation in many of our prisons,” said Mr Howlin.

Staff and prisoners at Mountjoy were yesterday being interviewed by gardaí about the deaths of two prisoners in their cells on Thursday.

Michael Rogers, from South Circular Road, Dublin, was found hanging in a protection cell on the C2 wing just after 3am on Thursday.

Mr Rogers, who was serving 18 months, is understood to have been in an altercation on Wednesday with a number of men and had asked to be placed in a protection cell for his own safety. The 38-year-old was nearing the end of a sentence for burglary-related offences.

The other man, a 21-year-old from Wexford serving nine months, is understood to have died from a drug overdose, although gardaí and prison authorities say they are still awaiting the outcome of a toxicology report. He was found in his cell around lunchtime on Thursday and was taken to the Mater hospital where he was pronounced dead at 4.15pm.

The Irish Prison Service has denied claims officers in riot gear and breathing apparatus were drafted into the prison after the deaths.

A spokeswoman said extra staff, including some from Wheatfield prison, were put on standby as a death in the cells, particularly two deaths, did have a tendency to create “reverberations” among other prisoners. However, the spokeswoman said that there were no problems encountered with the other prisoners.

She confirmed gardaí are to investigate the deaths of the two men, though foul play is not suspected. The prison spokeswoman said the cells where the two men died had been sealed to allow gardaí to carry out a forensic investigation and that staff and inmates would also be interviewed.

A garda spokesman said the investigations could take up to four weeks as the results of the toxicology report might not be available for a fortnight.

The two deaths come just three weeks after 21 year-old Gary ‘Niga’ Douch was beaten and strangled to death in an overcrowded cell also in Mountjoy prison on August 2.