Prisoner jumped out of courthouse window, inquest hears

A man accused of killing his wife jumped through a court house window eight days before taking his own life in a prison cell, an inquest heard.

Marius Daniel Sarzynski of Bective House, Beaufort Place, Navan, Co Meath was being held at Cloverhill Prison over the killing of Aleksandra Sarzynski.

He was attending Navan Courthouse in connection with a family law matter when he bolted across the courtroom and out through the window, about six metres above street level, on August 18th 2014.

Mr Sarzynski's was the only case to be heard before Judge Conal Gibbons that morning. Prison officers removed two sets of handcuffs from his wrists before the case began, as was normal practice, Dublin Coroner's Court heard.

The courtroom in Navan is located up two flights of stairs and Mr Sarzynksi had been there before, the inquest heard.

During a break in the hearing, Mr Sarzynski, who was from Poland, spoke briefly with his solicitor before jumping up and running across the courtroom to the window.

Prison Officer Siobhán Byrne said he jumped up and bolted towards her. “I was knocked down. When I got up I saw his two feet stuck in the window frame,” she said.

The man’s feet had caught on the window frame but he had dislodged himself before the prison officers could prevent him falling out.

“His feet dislodged. We ran downstairs and found him on the pavement screaming in pain,” Ms Byrne said. He was taken to Our Lady of Lourdes hospital in Drogheda where he was treated for a broken hip and other injuries.

“I thought he was trying to escape. That was my automatic reaction,” Ms Byrne said.

“He went head first through the window. It’s a big drop, about 20 feet onto concrete below. He was screaming in pain,” Ms Byrne said.

Former Chaplain at Cloverhill Prison St Margaret O’Donovan told the court she knew the deceased since his first day in prison in autumn 2013. She visited him almost every day, brought him communion and prayed with him.

“He had a very deep faith. He couldn’t reconcile with what he’d done. He had a terrible guilt,” she said.

She noticed his mood begin to deteriorate from early 2014.

“He would say things like, ‘I’ve nothing to live for, I’ve done a terrible thing,’” Sr O’Donovan said.

The court heard that Mr Sarzynksi asked for a razor to shave the day before he died. He was returned to Cloverhill Prison on August 26th where he was found injured in his cell shortly after midnight.

Sr O’Donovan received a call from Cloverhill Prison. She was told the deceased had cut himself badly and “it didn’t look good”.

She went to the Adelaide and Meath Hospital in Tallaght where she identified the remains of Mr Sarzynski.

The inquest, which is due to hear evidence from a total of 20 witnesses, was adjourned until May by Coroner Dr Brian Farrell.