No lawyer for prison officer’s hearing on claims of inappropriate contact with inmate’s wife

A prison officer is not entitled to have a lawyer represent him at a disciplinary hearing over allegations including that he made inappropriate contact with the wife of a prisoner, the High Court ruled.

The officer, who cannot be named due to a court order, has brought proceedings against the governor of the prison he serves in and against the Irish Prison Service (IPS) over a refusal to permit him to have a lawyer at the hearing.

Mr Justice Anthony Barr ruled he was not entitled to the relief sought.

Phone messages

Outlining the case, the judge said that in late 2020 the wife of an inmate in the prison where the officer worked emailed the prison governor alleging she was being harassed by the officer via messages on her phone.

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She also claimed the officer was bringing in drink and phones and doing bets for prisoners on the working landing of the prison.

She provided the prison authorities with screenshots of WhatsApp messages.

The officer was informed it was intended to establish a number of investigations including referring certain matters to the gardaí and an investigation under the IPS code. He was also suspended from duty.

One of the investigations began but concluded without reaching a result because the investigator had not been able to interview either the prison officer or the woman who made the complaints.

In the meantime, further complaints about the officer were made by another prisoner who alleged the officer had brought in a Nokia phone with a SIM card and charger and passed them to the husband of the woman who made the complaint. He also alleged drugs and alcohol had been smuggled into the prison.

He alleged the woman had been paying the officer to bring these articles to her husband, but he speculated that the officer may have been doing it because he “fancied” the woman.

The prison authorities informed the officer these allegations were to be investigated too.

The judge said the woman complainant at one point complained about another prisoner in the prison who had threatened to burn her house down with her and her children in it. The judge said that, as a result, the sender of the WhatsApp messages made several threats about that prisoner saying he would stab him, kill him or strangle him.

Inappropriate contact

In 2021, the prison officer was told a formal investigation would be carried out into various allegations including over contraband, threats and inappropriate contact.

An investigator interviewed the prison officer who refused to answer questions because he said he had been informed the allegations had been referred to gardaí.

In a report, the investigator was satisfied in relation to a number of matters including that, on the balance of probabilities, it could be shown that he had threatened to have a prisoner killed or seriously assaulted and that there was inappropriate contact with the wife of a prisoner.

The prison governor decided to convene a disciplinary hearing and the officer was informed he could be accompanied by a Prison Officers Association (POA) official or by another serving officer.

The officer sought to be accompanied by his solicitor, saying the POA had refused to represent him because it was being investigated by the gardaí. The prison authorities confirmed with gardaí there was no criminal investigation.

The governor refused to allow him to bring a solicitor and he then brought a High Court challenge that was opposed by the respondents.

In his judgment, Mr Justice Barr said that due to the lack of co-operation from both the woman who first made allegations and the prisoner who made more allegations, the investigator ruled that the allegations about contraband material should not proceed.

Three allegations

The officer can now be represented by the POA as it has been confirmed there is no Garda investigation, the judge said.

He faces three allegations in relation to being the sender of WhatsApp messages, making threats and having inappropriate contact with the wife of a prisoner, the judge said. None of these issues required an in-depth grasp of either legal or factual complexities, he added.

“The court is satisfied that the services of a legal representative are not necessary to ensure that the applicant [the officer] will obtain a fair hearing in the remainder of the disciplinary process,” he said.