Man arrested on suspicion of murder following death of prisoner at Cloverhill

A man in his 50s has been arrested on suspicion of murder following the death of a prisoner at Cloverhill Prison in Dublin this weekend.

The man was arrested at Cloverhill Prison on Sunday morning and is being detained for questioning at Clondalkin Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.

“This morning, Sunday 24th November 2019, a male in his 50s was arrested at Cloverhill Prison on suspicion of murder,” gardaí said in a statement.

It added that a postmortem was completed on the body of the dead man on Saturday by State pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster but the results will not be released for operational reasons.

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It is understood the man died after being attacked by his cell mate in the prison.

Gardaí believe the deceased was strangled after being attacked just before midnight on Friday on the B wing of the west Dublin jail.

The Irish Times understands a prisoner in the cell next to the one where the fatal attack unfolded heard a disturbance and called for staff.

While prison officers rushed to the scene and opened the cell, the victim had already been fatally injured.

Staff tried to resuscitate the man but efforts to save his life were not successful and he was later pronounced dead in the cell.

The attack occurred about four hours after prisoners had been locked into their cells for the night.

Very rare

Homicides in Irish prisons are very rare and Friday night’s attack is under investigation by the Garda, Inspector of Prisons and the Irish Prison Service.

After efforts to resuscitate the victim were not successful gardaí were called and immediately sealed off the cell as a crime scene.

Informed sources said it appeared the dead man was strangled. The dead man’s cell mate is the only suspect.

Garda Headquarters issued a statement on Saturday saying: “Shortly after midnight gardaí and emergency services were called by prison authorities following an incident involving two male prisoners in custody at the prison.

“A man in his late 30s was treated by emergency services but was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.

“The coroner has been notified and the services of the State Pathologist and Garda Technical Bureau have been requested.

“Gardaí are following a definite line of enquiry and the investigation is ongoing.”