A 19-year-old prisoner was raped at knifepoint three weeks ago by two other inmates while he was going to the toilet in Mountjoy Prison, the High Court has heard.
In what Mr Justice Herbert described as "a most singularly unpleasant application to have to listen to", he ordered the prison governor to bring the rape victim to court on Monday next and show cause why he should not be released from custody.
Mr Vincent Heneghan, counsel for the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said the young man had been a slow learner and had attended special schools all his life.
Mr Heneghan said the man had been jailed for four years on robbery charges and had been transferred from Wheatfield prison to Mountjoy by direction of the prison authorities, who had been aware of his medical and mental background.
He had not been coping with his detention and had been seen by a psychiatrist in June who diagnosed intermittent panic attacks, sleep disturbance, loss of appetite and fear and anxiety.
Mr Heneghan said that on August 2nd the victim had been brutally assaulted and raped at knifepoint by two other inmates. He had since been seen by a psychologist and a representative of the Rape Crisis Centre.
Mr Heneghan said that since the rape his client had been under severe emotional and psychological strain and had been moved to a section of the prison which houses prisoners convicted of sexual offences. Because of his mental condition, together with acute distress since the violent rape, he believed his client's continued detention to be unlawful.
In successfully applying for a conditional order of habeas corpus, Mr Heneghan said it would be his case that the prison authorities had not catered for his special needs and he was being treated in a cruel and inhumane manner and continued to live in fear. Mr Heneghan said lawful detention did not and should not amount to cruelty.