Inmates convicted for roles in Mountjoy riot

Three Mountjoy Prison inmates have received consecutive sentences for their roles in a riot that caused a five hour lock-down and left prison officers with broken teeth.

Patrick O’Connell (aged 31), Abdulla Abdi (aged 33) and Kieran Whelan (aged 28) all pleaded guilty on their trial date at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to violent disorder in the D-block recreation area at Mountjoy Prison on July 12, 2008.

Detective Sergeant Karl Murray revealed that prison officers in full riot gear were called for assistance when up to 80 inmates became violent during a sit-down protest against recently introduced searching procedures.

Prisoners barricaded themselves into an area comprising a television room, snooker room, computer room and fabric and carpentry workshops and hurled projectiles such as snooker balls at staff.

One officer suffered two lacerations on his shin, three officers were sprayed in the face with fire-extinguishers and two officers received extensive damage to their teeth.

Judge Desmond Hogan gave O’Connell, of Dingle Road, Cabra West, three years consecutive to his current five-year robbery sentence but suspended the final 21 months. The father-of-one has 30 previous convictions and was due for release in 2012.

Abdi, a Somalia native of Caltcalla Estate, Ennis, Co. Clare, received a two-year consecutive sentence with the final 12 months suspended on strict conditions. He has 10 previous convictions and is serving 10 years in consecutive sentences for drugs offences.

Whelan, of Dunsink Drive, Finglas, also received a two-year consecutive sentence with the final 12 months suspended for his role. The father-of-three has 25 previous convictions including robbery and drugs offences and was due for release later this year.

Judge Hogan ordered that all three men undergo 12 months of probation service supervision post-release to help with their rehabilitation.

Det Sgt Murray told Mr Dominic McGinn SC, prosecuting (with Mr Seamus Clarke BL), that two prison officers supervising the sit-down protest noticed an unusually large number of inmates in the television room.

These officers managed to escape when the protest turned violent and sounded the alarm for help.

Prison staff locked off the two D-block access points, locked down the rest of the prison and tried to negotiate with the rioters.

The inmates threw projectiles at prison staff and let off fire-extinguishers in their faces. A special Control and Restraint team in full riot gear eventually got the culprits out of the room one by one.

Det Sgt Murray said about €142,000 damage was done to the recreation area during the disturbance, which was recorded by CCTV.

He said the inmates tried to interfere with the CCTV by switching off the lights and attempting to smash and throw paint on the camera lenses.

The detective sergeant told Mr McGinn that CCTV footage showed O’Connell taking two snooker balls from the snooker table, switching off the lights, throwing something into an adjacent room and later carrying a fire-extinguisher.

He said Whelan was shown hitting the ceiling with a chair and covering his face with a jacket and Abdi was shown throwing something out of the yard gate.

Det Sgt Murray revealed that the guilty pleas spared a lengthy trial.

He agreed with Mr Denis Vaughan Buckley SC (with Ms Martina Baxter BL), defending O’Connell, that his client had been a heroin addict and had suffered a number of recent family bereavements.

He agreed with Mr Paul Green SC (with Mr Pieter Le Vert BL), defending Abdi, that his client was also a heroin addict and had been jailed for drug related offences.

The detective sergeant agreed with Ms Anne Marie Lawlor BL (with Mr Conor Devally SC), defending Whelan, that her client had not been involved with the threats against prison officers and had acted as a spokesperson during the negotiations to try and restore calm.

Det Sgt Murray accepted that Abdi and Whelan had “minimal involvement” and used no violence against prison staff and that O’Connell, though he had a greater role, was not the ringleader.

O’Connell told Mr Vaughan Buckley that he wished to apologise to the prison officers for what happened on the day.

Mr Green submitted that his client also wished to apologise “unreservedly” for his involvement in the violent disorder.

He said Abdi had come to Ireland from Somalia over 13 years ago, met an Irish woman and had worked on the factory floor at computer company Dell until he lost his job and fell into heroin abuse.

He said Abdi’s addiction led to criminality and he landed in jail on a 10-year sentence for drug offences.

Counsel submitted that his client has no family in Ireland and his relationship ended after he was jailed, but that he has since become drug-free over a two year process.

Mr Devally said Whelan became a heroin addict from the age of 13, dropped out of school and was eventually jailed for holding drugs.

He said his client had “straightened out” after the riot, realised he was wasting his life and is now employed as supervisor in the prison print shop.

Judge Hogan accepted the men had entered early and valuable guilty pleas.