Unprecedented prison overcrowding leads to escalating tensions 

Midlands Prison had a record 1,000 in custody last Friday

Tensions in the Midlands Prison are 'at the highest', one source said, with prisoners objecting to other inmates coming into their cells to sleep on floors. Picture: Moya Nolan

Tensions are escalating in prisons due to some unprecedented overcrowding, with 1,000 in custody in the Midlands Prison on Friday for the first time.

Fears are now emerging that Kinahan cartel killer and notorious gangland criminal ‘Fat’ Freddie Thompson’s recent incarceration in the prison may spark more problems amid acute overcrowding, sources say.