Prison inmate wins €150k damages over attack in jail

A prisoner viciously attacked by another inmate at Wheatfield Prison has been awarded damages of €150,000.

In a landmark ruling the High Court has found the prison authorities and the State failed in their duty of care to 34-year-old Peter Creighton.

Mr Creighton was repeatedly slashed on the face and body in an unprovoked and vicious attack by another inmate at Wheatfield prison in January 2003.

It happened while he was with around 15 prisoners waiting for their morning dose of methadone by an area of the jail known as 'the cage'.

His solicitor Gerry Burns said the inmate's face and body are disfigured by scars.

Peter Creighton sued the State and Wheatfield prison alleging they had failed in their duty to protect him.

In an unprecedented decision Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill found the authorities were at fault for allowing too many prisoners to congregate in the space and for not putting netting around the prison yard where the weapon used in the attack was most likely thrown in over a wall.