An inmate at Mountjoy prison who was found hanging less than 12 hours after swallowing two batteries in a protest to get medical attention died by suicide, a jury has found.
Kenneth Doona (33) from School Street, Dublin 8, was found hanging in his cell at Mountjoy Prison on April 14th, 2013, and died two days later at the Mater Hospital from a hypoxic brain injury (caused by a reduction in the supply of oxygen).
Dublin Coroner’s Court had heard that on the day of the hanging Doona, who had been “in agony” from a hernia for two to three months, swallowed two AAA batteries in an attempt to get medical attention. On the second day of the inquest, Mountjoy Prison GP Dr Edward Cox said placing Doona on special observations was a “very reasonable response”. An appointment for review of the hernia had been arranged at the Mater Hospital for May 27th, he said.
Protocol for preserving scene
The inquest heard an officer from the Prison Service’s Operations Support Unit (OSU) photographed the cell before the Garda scenes examiner inspected it. Mountjoy assistant governor Jean Carey said she could not explain why that had happened.
Procedure has changed and now the OSU takes over the scene of an incident and preserves it, she said.
Summing up for the jury, coroner Dr Brian Farrell said “any scene of a sudden, unnatural death is a potential crime scene” and even if it were deemed not to be “it is still a death in a custodial situation and the same standards should apply”. He told them they did not have to resolve the conflict regarding medical treatment following the battery incident.
The jury returned a majority verdict of death by suicide and recommended that the Irish Prison Service review procedures for the preservation of scenes of serious incidents.