Prisoners make 350 claims of serious assault

Prisoners in Irish jails have made almost 350 complaints of serious assault and intimidation under a new complaints procedure introduced by the Irish Prison Service introduced in November 2012.

However, only a small proportion of complaints were upheld following investigation.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald revealed that a total of 348 Category A complaints were made against prison staff and other prisoners in the past three and a half years. Figures provided by the Irish Prison Service show that just 18 complaints have been validated, while 249 complaints — almost three in every four — were not upheld.