Family of Cork man who died in prison still awaiting inspector's report for inquest

Family of Andrew Gearns, who was jailed for a minor offence, believe he could have been saved with the right intervention

Evan Gearns holding a picture of his brother Andrew at his home on Model Farm Road.

The family of a man who took his own life in Cork Prison in 2020 say they are still waiting for an Inspector of Prisons report to be supplied for his inquest.

Andrew Gearns, 29, from Model Farm Road in Cork City, was “at a very low ebb in his life” when he was jailed for a minor offence in September 2020.

His family believe that with the right intervention and care, he may have been saved.

Although his inquest was supposed to be in September, missing CCTV footage from the prison and questions over risk alerts raised in prison due to concerns about Andrew's mental health led to the inquest being indefinitely delayed.

A date had been set for early February but this was recently cancelled and the inquest was postponed again.

His brother Evan said delays to the inquest are putting his family through additional and unnecessary trauma. 

It may also delay any learnings from his brother’s death that may better protect others in future, he said.

'You have to fight for everything'

“We’re looking for the Inspector of Prisons report to be released to the family and to the coroner,” Evan said. "But it's just back and forth between the authorities and they're all contradicting each other.

“Thomas Gould raised it in the Dáil last month, saying that the report should be made available and given to the coroner and the family. It’s been nearly two and a half years now. It is taking too long and you have to fight for everything.

“They say it takes time for the investigation but everything’s written up, it just needs to be signed off. The investigators themselves have been outstanding but the system itself is broken.” 

The brothers in happier times.

The Office of the Inspector of Prisons (OIP), which investigates deaths in custody, said that although it could not comment on individual cases, it could “confirm that all current investigations are being conducted diligently and the resulting reports are transmitted to the Minister for Justice at the earliest possible opportunity".

Once a report has been published and laid before the houses by the minister, the OIP will provide a copy to the relevant coroner, a statement from the OIP said.

Evan Gearns said that his brother’s death could reveal key learnings for the Irish Prison Service around mental health awareness and improved staff training in this area.

His mother had called the prison with serious concerns about Andrew’s mental health on the day of his death after he called her in distress.

Evan feels that these warning signs were not taken seriously enough and if they had been, his brother’s life may have been saved:

I want to change the system, to put in more training of prison staff in mental health awareness."

Andrew was suffering a drug addiction, which landed him in jail on a minor offence.

He had been sentenced to two months in prison for a drunk and disorderly in a public place offence which was triggered after he missed a court date, Evan said.

Andrew was vulnerable when entering prison and had spoken of a previous suicide attempt, the Coroner’s Court previously heard. He had been hallucinating and suffered at least one brief psychotic incident while in prison.

Although Andrew's life began well — he achieved his Leaving Certificate in Bishopstown, had a long-term partner and two children — heroin addiction led to his life unravelling from 2018.