Dubliner Daniel Doyle (31), who appeared in the TV crime drama Love-Hate and has worked as a fitness model, has died from the effects of a suspected drugs overdose.
He had been a prisoner in Mountjoy Prison in Dublin but was found unresponsive in his cell ten days ago.
The Ballymun man, who was serving a one-year sentence for drug dealing, was discovered when the cell doors were unlocked just after 8am on June 15th.
Staff realised Doyle was in a serious condition in his D wing cell. Prison officers went to his aid and paramedics were called. Doyle was stabilised at the scene.
He was then taken by paramedics to the Mater Hospital.
He had been on a life-support machine since then but sources confirmed his death this morning.
The Irish Prison Service declined to comment.
It is unclear what drugs Doyle consumed. The case is being investigated by the prison authorities and the Garda.
In February, Doyle was jailed for 12 months relating to a drug-dealing offence at his home in November, 2014.
Garda found 446 ecstasy tablets and a small bag containing around €600 in cash. Drugs paraphernalia was also found in a safe in Doyle’s bedroom, including a weighing scales and syringes.
He had over 30 previous convictions, including four for drug dealing and two for threats to kill or cause serious harm. He was due for release from prison in about two months.
Doyle, who appeared as an extra in series five of Love-Hate, was a body builder and worked as a fitness model.
Just weeks after being jailed earlier this year, a claim he lodged for compensation following a road traffic crash was dismissed in the courts.
He claimed he had been left badly injured and in so much pain he was unable to lift his young daughter.
However, lawyers for the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland showed him photos he had posted on Facebook, including one where he was carrying a grown man.
The case was immediately dismissed. Doyle had opted to take his case to the High Court, which can award an unlimited sum in damages and decided to ignore the Circuit Court which can award up to €60,000.
Doyle was regarded as having a future in modelling when he was released from prison in his early twenties and signed for the Assets agency.
He had spent a number of periods in jail; sentenced to two years in 2007 after being caught with cocaine and shotgun cartridges in Glasnevin, north Dublin, in 2006.
He told the gardaí he kept the ammunition because he was in fear of his life from other criminals.
In separate attacks in 2011 and 2012 he was stabbed a total of 13 times. Both incidents occurred on his way home from the same pub in north Dublin.
