Locked up and forgotten in Mountjoy

Appalling conditions and overcrowding throughout Mountjoy on the night of July 31, 2006, meant seven vulnerable prisoners were packed into one holding cell supposedly for their own protection.

The last one in was a young man who had been moved downstairs as he was fearful of his personal safety in the packed prison.Another was a man who had, just days earlier, frightened a senior psychiatrist because he was so violent and deluded.

Crucially, he had not been given his anti-psychotic medication.A considerable amount of alcohol was consumed through the night. At 6.30am, six of the prisoners filed out of Holding Cell 2. They quietly informed prison officers that one man was still inside under a pile of duvets, with a sheet covering his face.He was pronounced dead an hour later.