Mountjoy prisoner on ventilator after attack jailed for botched loaded gun delivery

A man subjected to a group attack in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, days after his latest sentence was imposed is on a life support machine in hospital after sustaining life-threatening head injuries.

Robert O’Connor (34), Snowdrop Walk, north Dublin, was attacked by at least three other prisoners in the C-wing of Mountjoy just after 5.30pm on Friday. Gardaí suspect the attackers were effectively working at the behest of another criminal, who directed the violence from outside the jail, perhaps due to a drugs debt.

While prison staff quickly went to his aid, the men responsible had fled the landing, though a number of suspects have been identified and were at the centre of the Garda’s investigation. The area where the incident occurred, including O’Connor’s cell and the landing outside, was sealed off and examined by members of the Garda Technical Bureau.

O’Connor was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to the Mater Hospital beside the prison and was placed on a ventilator. He sustained head injuries in the attack.

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The Garda said an investigation into the attack is now underway by gardaí in Mountjoy Garda station, where an incident room has been established. The Irish Prison Service confirmed an attack had taken place, adding it was now under Garda investigation.

CCTV footage was being gathered from the network of cameras in the jail in a bid to establish if the attackers were recorded entering and fleeing O’Connor’s cell.

Just 48 hours before the attack O’Connor was jailed for 6½ years after he pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of the semi-automatic pistol in Finglas on October 13th, 2021. However, he was not a new committal to the prison system as he had already been serving a sentence in Mountjoy for several months for another offence before his court appearance last week.

He claimed in court he agreed to carry a loaded semi-automatic pistol to pay off a drugs debt. On the day the gun was found, O’Connor was travelling in a car with another man on the N2 and as they drove towards Finglas they were spotted and followed by an off-duty garda. They abandoned the car and ran towards Charlestown shopping centre and garda reinforcements began to arrive and chased them on foot.

Both men were arrested and O’Connor was caught with the loaded gun in a plastic bag. The gun had three rounds of ammunition in the magazine and one round in the breach. The bag O’Connor was carrying also contained two jackets, two pairs of gloves and two face masks. While O’Connor initially said he had the gun because he was in fear of his life, he later claimed he was carrying it to pay off a debt.

Judge Martin Nolan said O’Connor must have known that the reason he was carrying the gun was “to bring it to third parties to shoot someone or injure someone” and as such he was highly culpable. His previous convictions include drugs offences, stealing cars, criminal damage, theft and road traffic offences.