Monkeypox fears lead to delay in sending Cork couple to prison

The judge said Cork Prison would have to accommodate the man and that the authorities would be able to manage the issue, referencing isolation cells used for Covid-19 and the fact that monkeypox spreads in a different way. File photo: Dan Linehan

Two people sentenced on Thursday but initially refused entry to prison over fears they may have the monkeypox virus are now going to jail.

It comes after the Governor of Cork Prison had appeared in court to outline his concerns over admitting a man, suspected of having the monkeypox virus, and convicted on Thursday this week for offences committed the previous day.

Paula Canty, 29 of 1 St Eltins Crescent, Kinsale, and her partner, 47-year-old Gerry Foley of 1 Greenville Place, Cork City, were convicted in Bandon District Court on Thursday following their arrests the previous day in relation to a variety of offences.

Last Wednesday, the couple had travelled by bus to Kinsale from Cork City and it is understood were on the return journey when Ms Canty got off at Riverstick and Mr Foley got off in Belgooly.

Gardaí had earlier been contacted by the bus driver over an alleged disturbance on board but it was when both people left the bus that gardaí received reports of a man and a woman attempting to flag down cars.

Mr Foley faced a public order charge and also a separate charge over an earlier non-appearance at court. When Ms Canty was arrested she told gardaí she had monkeypox. She resisted arrest, attempting to bite a garda, and threatened that they would catch the virus.

In court on Thursday, the matter quickly proceeded to hearing, with Foley receiving a €200 fine for the public order offence and 90 days in prison for the earlier non-appearance in court. Ms Canty received a six-month sentence for obstruction and a three-month sentence of the more serious public order offence, with another taken into account.

Monkeypox fears

However, it then emerged that the couple had not entered prison due to fears they may have monkeypox, with the couple returning to garda custody.

The court had previously been told that when the woman was arrested she had told gardaí she had monkeypox. She resisted arrest and had threatened gardaí, saying they would catch the virus. She was on bail at the time of the incident last Wednesday. 

Earlier, both had been cautioned over a disturbance on a bus linked to a missing wallet. They were both arrested subsequently for public order offences.

The Governor of Cork Prison, Peter O'Brien, attended at Bandon District Court on Friday where Judge James McNulty said prison would have to accommodate the male inmate, adding: 

This is not ebola, it's monkeypox.

In what the judge described as an "unexpected and most unusual" situation, Governor O'Brien appeared in court to tell the judge that prison authorities had been told the couple may have monkeypox.

Mr O'Brien said he contacted infection control within the Irish Prison Service, with the operations director also notified. They in turn then contacted Public Health in the Department of Health about the situation, Mr O'Brien said.

"The advice was that we would not accept the prisoners, until we can verify what contagious disease they have," the Governor said. He said the advice from Public Health was against allowing the couple into a confined building with a vulnerable population.

Judge McNulty noted that Mr O'Brien was not legally represented - something the Governor attributed to "probably naivete on my part" - and that the request led to "significant legal issues".

Mr O'Brien also said that he had been led to believe that there would be separate applications made to the court that would facilitate the release of the two people for further testing before any admission into prison.

'Manipulated ruse'

However, Sgt Trish O'Sullivan said as far as gardaí were concerned the matter had concluded on Thursday, while solicitor Tony Greenway, who represented both people in court this week, said he had no instructions in that regard.

However, in court on Friday Tony Greenway told the judge that the couple had been swabbed on September 8, with a test returning a negative result for monkeypox.

The judge was also told that the couple had spent three nights in the Cork University Hospital, again last week, and had been given antibiotics, but that they had been discharged.

Mr Greenway said he had noted sores on the hands of the couple, but he did not know the source of them. He also said the actions of Cork University Hospital in discharging the couple would not indicate they were symptomatic or contagious.

The judge said that the claim from the woman that she had monkeypox may have been either "a false alarm or manipulated ruse".

He said the prison would have to accommodate them and that the authorities would be able to manage the issue, referencing isolation cells used for Covid-19 and the fact that monkeypox spreads in a different way.

He said the order of the court could not be ignored but that the matter did need to be brought to the attention of the Department of Justice "before it becomes a crisis". He said prison staff could arrange for any medical tests that might be required.

The man has since been sent to Cork Prison while the woman is now in a prison in Limerick.