Man found dead in prison cell

Gardaí are investigating after a 24-year-old man was found dead in his cell in a Dublin prison, it was confirmed today.

Declan Curran from Cardiffsbridge Avenue, Finglas in north Dublin, whose trial for murder collapsed earlier this year, was remanded to Cloverhill Prison yesterday but was discovered dead in his bed this morning.

A spokesman for the Irish Prisons’ Service said: “He was in a cell with two relatives, this morning after the doors were unlocked they went off to mass in the chapel.

“Then when they came back they tried to wake him, called the authorities and he was pronounced dead in his cell at around 10.30am.”

Curran was charged in connection with the robbery of the TSB Bank in Sutton Cross, Howth in Dublin where €6,000 was taken last Thursday.

His trial for the murder of William O’Regan collapsed earlier this year when the Director of Public Prosecutions entered a nolle prosequi.

It was the third day of the trial, in which Curran had pleaded not guilty to shooting Mr O’Regan at his home at Old Cabra Road, Dublin, on June 12, 2003.

A nolle prosequi allows the DPP to re-enter the charge at a later date.

A spokesman said: “There was no indication that there was anything untoward about the death.

"There was nothing untoward found in his cell. There was no indication he was into drugs and there was no paraphernalia.

“He was checked by staff just before midnight and he was in good form.”

Cloverhill Governor Willie Kane will be launching an inquiry and a post-mortem will be carried out on the body to establish the cause of death.