A PRISON officer accused of trafficking mobile phones to inmates has won a High Court order overturning a recommendation for his dismissal from the service. However, the court refused to grant orders restraining prison authorities bringing fresh proceedings against Liam Hynan.
Mr Hynan, a prison officer at Wheatfield Prison, Dublin, had brought proceedings against the Minister for Justice and Derek Brennan, a governor within the Irish Prison Service, over Mr Brennan’s October 2009 recommendation that Mr Hynan be dismissed following a disciplinary hearing in which he was found guilty.
The president of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, ruled yesterday that Mr Hynan was entitled to an order quashing that decision because Mr Brennan, without Mr Hynan’s knowledge, had carried out an investigation with another officer who had made a complaint against Mr Hynan.
Mr Hynan was subject to disciplinary hearings after being suspended from his job in early 2007 on foot of allegations he had trafficked mobile phones to prisoners.
Two phones were found in a box which Mr Hynan used for storage, the court heard. Mr Hynan claimed he had confiscated them from a prisoner in April and October 2006 but did not report this because the prisoner “menaced him”.
At a disciplinary hearing against Mr Hynan held on two days in late September and early October 2009, Mr Brennan found him guilty and recommended his dismissal after which Mr Hynan brought his High Court case claiming he did not receive a fair hearing. The defendants denied the claims.