New procedures will be put in place for the transfer of vulnerable prisoners following the death of a man by suicide in a holding cell following a court appearance over a year ago, Minister for Justice Alan Shatter said. Mr Shatter published the investigation by Inspector of Prisons Judge Michael Reilly into the circumstances surrounding the death of Shane Rogers at Cloverhill courthouse in Dublin on December 20th, 2011.
Rogers, from Inniskeen, Co Monaghan, had been charged with the murder of Crossmaglen GAA player James Hughes (35). He had pleaded guilty to murdering Mr Hughes, from Crossmaglen, and to wounding taxi driver Anthony Callan, from Ardee, Co Louth, and a former girlfriend, Patricia Byrne, from Louth village, on Sunday, December 11th, 2011.
Clearly identified
The report into the events found that Rogers had been a high-profile prisoner whose mental health vulnerability at the time of his arrest and his committal to prison was “clearly identified”.
He had expressed an intention to take his own life from the time he presented himself to gardaí at Carrickmacross on the morning of December 11th, and also told his solicitor he intended to kill himself.
His vulnerability was known to prison staff at Cloverhill on December 20th, but this knowledge had not been transferred to the staff escorting Rogers on that date.
The escorts are undertaken by the Prison Service Escort Corps, a stand-alone unit within the prison service, with a separate management team and a separate governor.
No system
The report found that the prison escort service had no system for identifying and risk-assessing prisoners transferred to its custody.
Mr Shatter said the report was being taken seriously by the Irish Prison Service and the director general had put in place an action plan, setting specific objectives and timeframes for implementing the inspector’s recommendations. Enhanced arrangements had already been introduced in relation to the notification of the vulnerable status of prisoners to escort staff.
“Furthermore, all vulnerable prisoners are now returned to Cloverhill Prison immediately upon completion of their court appearance.”