A PRISONER WHO has attacked more than two dozen prison officers over the past decade is currently being bought Playstation games by prison managers and has a fish tank outside his cell.
Speaking at the annual conference of the Prison Officers Association Assistant General Secretary Gabriel Keaveney said:
“He has been given a Playstation, the management have gone out and purchased games for him.
“A fishtank has been put out on the landing to pacify him. This guy has very seriously assaulted staff in the past.
They are now talking about building a garden for him off the landing for him to have some time in, this is completely unacceptable.
“There seems to be no loss of money when it comes to dealing with these people, I mean we’re in riot gear at the moment dealing with this guy, he’s that dangerous.
“They also bring in special brown bread for him which no other prisoner has access to.
Every time he opens the fish tank there has to be three officers in riot gear, he’s that dangerous.
TheJournal.ie understands the prisoner in question is Leon Wright who has been described as Ireland’s angriest man after stabbing two people on Grafton street in 2013 while on bail for assaulting two gardaí.
There were over 220 complaints against him in prison.
Keaveney added: We’re not allowed to carry a baton we have nothing to defend ourselves only our bare hands.
“It’s rewarding bad behaviour the way we see it.”
The Director General of the Irish Prison Service Michael Donnellan said he could not comment on individual cases but added:
“We have some very troubled and troublesome prisoners, and we do everything we can to think outside the box to try and re-engage them, because all of these people are going back out into society and it’s our job in prison to rehabilitate people.
“So to crush people more in my experience, and internationally, doesn’t really work – it makes people more angry. So what you’ve got to try and do is build people up so we can have a safer society.”
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