Prisoner 'feared he would die'

A jury has heard that a prisoner whose jaw was allegedly broken by a prison officer feared he was going to die after he was left naked, covered in blood in a padded cell for 30 minutes.

Mr Colm Fogarty said in a statement to gardai that the only time he was not being "lashed out of it" by prison officers was when he was being moved to the Mater hospital.

Mr Fogarty told gardai he saw an officer in riot gear run up and kick him in the face after he was dragged from the back of a prison van. He said he felt his jaw snap on both sides and bones pierced through the flesh into his mouth.

Mr Finbar Burke, who was supervising the relocation of Mr Fogarty, told the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury the vast majority of this statement was "a fantastical concoction".

Mr Alan Garvey (aged 32), c/o Mountjoy Prison, Dublin 7 has pleaded not guilty to assault causing harm and assault causing serious harm to Mr Fogarty on September 18, 1999.

Defence counsel, Mr Patrick MacEntee SC (with Mr Des Zaiden BL), during cross-examination of Burke, read Mr Fogarty's statement in which he said about 20 officers burst into his cell, knocked him to the ground, kicked him and stood on his legs.

He said that as he was being moved to the van, he heard officers shouting: "You scumbag, you deserve it".

He said he was placed face down in the back of the van in handcuffs and was constantly kicked in the temple by an officer wearing 'George Webb' shoes, which Mr Burke agreed were standard prison issue footwear.

Mr Fogarty said when he was dragged out of the van his head was held in place and officers lined up to kick him in the face, including one officer not wearing riot gear.

He saw out of the corner of his eye an officer in riot gear run up and kick him in in the face. He felt his jaw snap on both sides and his mouth filled with blood. He tried to speak but couldn't as the pain was excruciating so he decided to play dead.

He said he was then brought into the medical unit by an officer in plain clothes and the blood from his mouth was pouring down this officer's trousers.

Mr Fogarty also claimed in his statement he was taken past the Assistant Chief Officer and was amazed when the officers continued to beat him in front of the ACO. He was taken to a padded cell and stripped of all his clothes.

Mr Burke denied ordering Mr Fogarty's blood to be wiped off the floor immediately to hide the evidence. He said Mr Fogarty was a drug user and his HIV status was unknown so it was a priority his blood be cleaned up as soon as possible.

He said the vast majority of Mr Fogarty's statement was "totally and emphatically untrue" and said none of the men under his supervision assaulted the prisoner or that he only "fingered" Mr Garvey after Mr Fogarty's mother called to the prison.