Inmates let out to accommodate new prisoners

Inmates in Cork Prison were released to make way for new inmates because of overcrowding, it was revealed today.

At least 12 new inmates arrived in the facility on Friday night, having being sentenced at district courts and the Circuit Criminal Court earlier that day.

However, when they arrived the prison, there was not enough accommodation for all of them, meaning that some had to sleep on mattresses on the floors of some cells.

On Saturday morning, nine prisoners were released on a temporary basis to help alleviate the over-crowding situation.

The prison has a population of almost 260 inmates, in a building designed for 150 prisoners.

There is nopw a concern that the overcrowding situation is leading to a return of the ‘revolving door’ system where prisoners have to be released to allow for the intake of new prisoners.

Vice president of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA), Gerry Wilson, said: “Cork Prison is a committal prison, which means it has to take in prisoners sent to it from the courts.”

He added that the closure of the prison on Spike Island had put an added pressure on accommodation at Cork Prison.

The prison’s governor David Cowman agreed that there is an overcrowding situation, but said the prisoners released on Saturday morning were low-risk prisoners who were close to the end of their sentences.

“People who are a major danger are not given temporary release,” he said.

“There are other reasons why prisoners are given temporary release, apart from overcrowding. These include family occasions.”

Article courtesy of The Evening Echo newspaper