Woman who dropped her underwear in jail loses case

A woman who claimed she was told to take off her jeans going through a security check at Castlerea Prison and, as a result, accidentally dropped her underwear has lost her damages action.

Nataliya Matviyenko, aged 39, a Russian-speaking Ukrainian, claimed she was told by a prison officer to take off her jeans because they contained decorative metal buttons before going through a metal detector while visiting her husband.

Yesterday, Mr Justice Paul Gilligan said he accepted Ms Matviyenko “genuinely believed” she was asked to remove her jeans when in fact the prison officer wanted her to remove her shoes.