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FIVE INMATES DIED in the custody of the Irish Prison Service (IPS) last year, records released under the Freedom of Information Act have revealed.
The cause of death in all five cases has yet to be determined by a coroner. Inquests will be held later this year, and investigations will also be carried out by the inspector of prisons.
It brings the number of prisoners who have died in custody to 105 since 2005, while dozens more have died on temporary release from Irish jails.
Decrease
The five deaths that occurred in detention centres last year represents a marked decrease compared to the number of fatalities recorded during the previous year, however.
A total of 14 prisoners died in custody in 2015, while a further eight inmates died while on temporary release from the State’s network of 14 prisons and places of detention that year.
The number of prisoners who died while on temporary release during 2016, if any, is not yet available.
Of the 105 fatalities that occurred in prison custody since 2005, 16 have been classified as death by suicide; while the cause of death has yet to be determined pending inquests in at least 25 cases.
A total of eight prisoners died in custody in 2014, nine died in 2013, five died in 2012, and six deaths were recorded in 2011. Some 20 prisoners died on temporary release in the three years prior to 2016.
Investigation
Since 2012, the death of any prisoner in custody or on temporary release is subject to an independent investigation by the inspector of prisons. Each prison also has a local suicide prevention group that examines the circumstances of each death and makes recommendations.
A spokesperson for the IPS said that every death, as well as every incident of self-harm, is examined by the suicide prevention group in the relevant prison.
The groups are chaired by prison governors and include doctors, psychiatrists, and chaplains.
“Their examinations fully cover the background and circumstances of each death. Their objective is to identify, where possible, measures which might be implemented to contribute to a reduction in the risk of deaths in future,” the IPS said.
In addition, the National Suicide and Harm Prevention Steering Group… provides a forum for collating the reports of the local suicide prevention committees and disseminating significant findings throughout the prison system.
“The reports of the inspector of prisons are also considered in detail by the IPS and action plans are developed with regard to the implementation of the recommendations. Prison staff are regularly reminded of the need to adhere to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and protocols.
“Any failure to adhere to SOPs is investigated by the governor, and the governor will then take appropriate action including disciplinary action if required,” the spokesperson added.
Can we please stop propagating the lies of the English media? Brexit did the damage, not the protocol.
@James Pelow: Very well said. They’re actually using it as a distraction. And it’s drawing us into something that has nothing to do with us. Brexit is the problem. End of story.
You can’t hold a poll asking people if they think the Protocol is good for Northern Ireland without clarifying what the alternative is.
That’s like asking a child if they think the settlement that their parents agreed to after divorce is good.
Let’s be clear… article 16 does not end the protocol. It can suspend a part of it for a short period of time. When the UK says it will trigger A16, call it out for what they want to do….they want to scrap it and force a border on the island of Ireland or a border between Ireland and EU. That’s their plan and I believe it’s been the plan all along. This mess has been made by the UK and the protocol is a plaster. The GB companies that send those goods that will never end up back in the EU (including ROI) need to be better catered for. The issue is that there is no trust between the UK and EU as, so far, the UK hasn’t implemented main parts of the protocol so all at risk goods must be considered guilty until proven innocent.
Ok theJournal…. Time to correct your headlines… “Is Brexit bad or good for firms in Northern Ireland?”
The protocol is a workaround to the main issue, Brexit..
While I’ve no doubt it has caused some legitimate disruption for businesses heavily linked to GB, how did the study take into account costs (for consultancy etc) that would’ve been incurred without the procotol because they also trade with the EU?
Or how did it take into account all the paperwork NI businesses save because they can trade with the Republic and the rest of the EU freely?
All these analyses seem to assume that trade with Ireland was either insignificant, or its continuity was a a given (neither of these are true) and that any disruption with GB is a cost without any quantifiable benefit (again not true).
It’s not the protocol that’s not working. It’s brexit that’s not working.
How dare the EU break away from the United Kingdom. They’ve made things very difficult for everyone, especially the Brits!
By leaving the CU and SM and going for a Sharia Brexit GB turned itself into a legal and regulatory Kaliningrad. Their call-their choice…If they hadn’t CHOSEN that there would be no protocol. They want a hard border in IRL or IRL out the the EU-they will get neither but what they will get is humiliation.
It is improving trade between north and south.
have your say