Judge attacks system as prisoner freed two days into sentence

A JUDGE yesterday hit out at the system which allowed the temporary release of a serial Limerick criminal two days into a 10-month sentence due to overcrowding at Limerick prison.

Judge Tom O’Donnell, at Limerick District Court said the decision to release Paul Foran – who has 96 previous convictions – on March 9 after getting concurrent sentences on March 7 did not instil confidence in the system.

“It is a very important matter for me that the citizens of Limerick need to be protected against Mr Foran’s crimes and it does not help if the situation is he is on temporary release after two days.”

Foran, 27, from North Claughaun Road, Garryowen, was just back on the streets when he was found pushing wheelie bins in the early hours containing kegs of stolen beer.

He admitted staling the kegs from the Salt House restaurant at the same court last Thursday.

On learning Foran was just out on temporary release, Judge O’Donnell asked for somebody from the prison service to set out for him the criteria for giving prisoners temporary release.

The assistant governor of Limerick prison, Mark Kennedy, told Judge O’Donnell that Foran had been serving an accumulation of sentences and was in and out of Limerick prison since April 2007. He said Foran was doing a total of two years by instalments.

When he was given temporary release in March the prison was overcrowded. The prison had a capacity to hold 275 prisoners and at that time they had 314 inmates.

This, Mr Kennedy said, meant there was doubling and trebling up in cells and this presented an issue relating to health and safety and the maintenance of standards.

Judge O’Donnell: “Is the capacity of the prison and health and safety aspect a serious issue in the prison?”

Mr Kennedy: “Yes.”

Judge O’Donnell said while it was not for him to comment on policy, there was a management matter for the department and the prison service and he was expressing certain concerns.

“I don’t want to single him (Foran) out. But if it boils down to an issue of overcrowding, then other people have to make decisions.

“It does not instil confidence in the system if somebody is released on temporary release within two days of a 10-month sentence being imposed.”

For the offences committed on March 9, Foran was sentenced to eight months, backdated to March 23.