A chief prison officer in Mountjoy jail, who admitted copying CDs and to having a phone line fitted in a medical unit storeroom in the prison, has won his High Court challenge to a decision by the minister for justice to demote him.
Mr Justice Brian McGovern noted some of the material found by gardaí - a CD burner, some DVDs and a computer - was pornographic but most of it was not.
Ernest Price had challenged the minister's decision to vary a proposal by the prison governor to reduce his pay and replace it with a decision to demote him to assistant chief prison officer.
Mr Justice McGovern yesterday ruled that while the minister was entitled to vary the punishment, the prison regulations provided that he could do so only after informing Mr Price of his proposal to vary and after informing him of his right to appeal.
However, Mr Price was told the minister had "decided" to vary the punishment and that Mr Price could appeal that. In making his decision before hearing Mr Price, the minister had breached fair procedures, the judge found.
In October 2003 gardaí searched a store in a medical unit in the jail where they found the DVDs, a CD burner and a computer. On the same day, Mr Price was stopped by gardaí in Dublin city.
An investigation was held and Mr Price admitted copying CDs and also admitted that he requested another employee to fit a phone line into the storeroom when he was not entitled to do so. He was suspended without pay pending the investigation.
In late October 2003, Mr Price was told 75 per cent of his salary would be restored pending the outcome of the investigation. In late December, he was charged with discreditable conduct, loss or misuse of or damage to prison service or state property and being an accessory to a breach of discipline.
Mr Justice McGovern said Mr Price was charged with two colleagues and they were dealt with leniently. Mr Price had pleaded guilty and believed he too would be dealt with leniently. The governor later submitted a report to the minister for justice stating he had decided to reprimand Mr Price and to recommend that his pay should be reduced by one increment for 12 months.
It was later stated on behalf of the minister that he was confirming the governor's "finding of guilt" and had decided that Mr Price was to be reduced in rank to assistant chief officer.
The minister had erred in that there was no finding of guilt by the governor as Mr Price had pleaded guilty, the judge said. The minister was also not entitled to say he had "decided" that Mr Price be reduced in rank before hearing his submissions.