Mountjoy inmates being forced to sleep in showers

June 6, 2009 by Infowars Ireland

PRISONERS IN Mountjoy are now being accommodated in shower units due to severe overcrowding, it has emerged.

Chaplains and prison officers say record numbers have being placed in the facility in recent weeks, due to an increase in crime and a lack of prison places. Up to 670 prisoners were accommodated this week in the jail whose bed capacity is officially about 540.

On a regular basis over the past fortnight, prisoners have been forced to sleep in shower units, according to the Prison Officers’ Association (POA), while others are being accommodated in a reception area.

The situation is now significantly worse than in 2006 when 21-year-old inmate Garry Douche was killed by a fellow prisoner in an incident linked to overcrowding. At that time, there were some 570 prisoners in the facility.

Jim Mitchell of the POA said overcrowding was creating a “powder keg” environment, with a significantly higher risk of violence. “It’s chaos management, putting more prisoners behind closed doors that the system can cope with, and hoping they’re alive in the morning,” he said.

In the past year, there have been two serious riots in Mountjoy which involved significant levels of criminal damage and targeting of prison staff.

The Irish Prison Service confirmed yesterday prisoners have been held overnight in the shower areas for “operational reasons”, but insisted this would cease after it was raised with the governor.

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