A prisoner at Mountjoy Prison in Dublin hanged himself two weeks before he was due to be released, an inquest has heard.
At the time of his death, the man was "upset and disappointed" at being denied permission to attend his son's Confirmation the previous week, his mother told the court.
Anthony Spratt (31), Ratoath Drive, Finglas, Dublin, was found hanging from a cord attached to a window in his cell on March 5th, 2005. He was serving a short sentence for road tax and insurance offences.
Margaret Spratt told the Dublin City Coroner's Court yesterday that her son had attempted suicide at Wheatfield Prison shortly before he was transferred to Mountjoy. She expressed concern that he was not placed on suicide watch when transferred.
John Tobin, chief prison officer at Mountjoy, said there was nothing on Spratt's file that indicated he had attempted suicide before and they were therefore not aware he was a suicide risk.
"We checked all his records," he said. "We have no formal record from Wheatfield or anywhere else about anything like that." Ms Spratt also said her son was "treated like muck" by the prison authorities at Mountjoy.
Graham Corbally, a prisoner at Mountjoy and longtime friend of Spratt, said "it was well known by prison authorities about the incident in Wheatfield . . . he still had the mark on his neck".
Corbally added that it was "unheard of" that someone serving a sentence for such a minor offence would be denied temporary leave to attend a family function. "It was psychological abuse Anthony was receiving from certain prison officers," he added.
Mr Tobin said it was the Irish Prison Service and not the staff of Mountjoy which decided if prisoners got temporary leave.
Coroner Dr Brian Farrell adjourned the inquest at the family's request to try and investigate if any records exist of Spratt's previous suicide attempt at Wheatfield Prison and to seek information in relation to why his request for temporary leave was denied.
Mr Tobin told the court that Spratt had been under "security observation" at Mountjoy.
"We had intelligence that Anthony was a threat to security . . . he had a higher profile than we were aware of although he was doing time for a very minor crime," he said. Other prison officers described Spratt as an "exemplary" and quiet prisoner.
The inquest resumes on August 30th.