Prison officers take case against governor

An alleged excessive delay by two prison officers in returning a "recalcitrant" inmate to prison after a hospital visit has led to a High Court action by the officers against the governor of Castlerea Prison.

Both officers are seeking to set aside penalties imposed on them as a result of the alleged delay.

It was alleged by the prison authorities that the prisoner's hospital visit on April 26th, 2002, had concluded about 12.40 p.m. but the prisoner was not returned to Castlerea until 6.35 p.m.

Yesterday, Mr Roddy Horan SC, for officers Mr Alan Burns and Mr John Hartigan, said the charges against his clients were serious but they had been refused legal representation at an internal disciplinary hearing in July 2003. They attended that hearing but did not participate.

There were complaints made that the officers made false statements and that they knowingly solicited an unauthorised gratuity from a prisoner. Mr Horan said there appeared to have been no finding on the latter complaint. After the disciplinary hearing, the governor wrote to both officers saying he was satisfied there was unnecessary delay during the escort.

He described the officers' conduct as "totally unacceptable" and said they had created unnecessary overtime and contravened his orders regarding escorts.

Both officers were reprimanded and suffered forfeiture of a one year wage increment.

In their proceedings, the officers argued that the governor was not entitled to sanction them by directing that future duties assigned to them would be performed within the prison and directing that they make good the three hours overtime payment in relation to the escort in question.

In an affidavit, both men said they encountered severe delays in completing the duty because of meal breaks and heavy traffic. They also claimed the prisoner was extremely difficult to deal with throughout the detail. They claimed they were denied legal representation at the internal hearing.

Mr James O'Reilly SC, for the governor, submitted yesterday that the disciplinary code made no provision for legal representation.

The hearing resumes today.