A prisoner who has been locked in his cell for up to 23 hours a day at Wheatfield Prison for more than a year has lost his High Court claim that he is being subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
Mr Justice Roderick Murphy yesterday accepted arguments by the prison governor that Jason O'Connor was being segregated for his own safety following credible threats to his life. The governor had a duty to protect inmates.
The judge said the governor had as wide a discretion in running the prison as he considered necessary, and the courts should not intervene except in particular circumstances which did not apply in this case.
O'Connor is serving a three-year sentence since July 2005 for burglary, criminal damage and handling stolen property. His lawyers had argued the manner of his segregation meant he was socially isolated with consequent serious adverse effects.
In an affidavit, O'Connor said he has been subject to a special segregation regime in the prison since March 2006. The prison authorities had told him this was because of a suggestion that others may have been harbouring an intention to cause him harm. His detention under such a regime was for his own good.
He said the most difficult aspect of the regime was his social isolation and the lack of any diversionary activities.
He was effectively locked in his cell for 23 hours a day, and the only time he had outside the cell was one hour or occasionally 90 minutes of exercise
He said while the general population of the prison was permitted to attend school, the gym, workshops and computer classes, no such facilities were given to those in the special segregation regime.
In opposing O'Connor's challenge, the governor said O'Connor had expressed fears to gardaí that his life may be at risk.
The governor also denied that the regime under which O'Connor was being detained amounted to a punishment regime, and said the sole purpose of the regime was to protect O'Connor's safety.
There was a real and credible threat to O'Connor's life, and the segregated area in the prison was considered the safest area for him. If the prison authorities were satisfied the threat to O'Connor's life no longer applied, there would be no impediment to him returning to the rest of the prison population.