Man’s death in prison after restraint by officers is investigated

Deceased (36) was on way back to cell at Cloverhill from court video appearance

Cloverhill Prison. Photograph: Alan Betson
Cloverhill Prison. Photograph: Alan Betson

A man has died in prison custody in Dublin after an incident during which he was subjected to control and restraint techniques by prison officers.

Three separate investigations were begun into the prisoner’s death, from the Garda, the Inspector of Prisons and the Irish Prison Service.

The deceased was a 36-year-old Irish man who was on remand in Cloverhill Prison, Dublin.

He had been taken from his cell on Monday afternoon to appear before a District Court sitting via video link from the prison campus. On his way back to his cell from that court appearance, a stand-off ensued between him and the prison staff accompanying him, with control and restraint techniques used on him at that point.

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The man then became unwell and quickly became unresponsive. Prison officers on the scene tried to revive him before paramedics arrived and took the man to hospital by ambulance. However, despite efforts to save the prisoner, he was declared dead a short time later.

The results of a postmortem are awaited before a cause of death can be established.

Conor Lally

Conor Lally

Conor Lally is Security and Crime Editor of The Irish Times