Inmate found unresponsive in Cork Prison Cell was likely 'dead for some time', report finds

Mr K was found in his cell on March 14 after his cellmate alerted prison staff he was not breathing at 7.43am on the day. The inspector said it "seemed probable that he had been dead for some time" before this point.

Eight recommendations have been made to the Department of Justice in the aftermath of Mr K's death.

In its report of the incident, the prison inspector noted the prison was overcrowded, housing 325 persons, representing 110% of its operational capacity.

It notes implementation of some of its recommendations would require "close cooperation" between the Department of Justice and the Department of Health.

The prison inspector's recommendations are largely based around what happens if a prisoner is removed from his or her cell following a suspected overdose.

They include: 

• A thorough search of the cell should immediately be conducted, in order to ascertain if any drugs remain hidden there;
• The prisoner concerned should never be returned to the same cell unless a thorough search of that cell has been conducted and fully documented;
• If a prisoner removed from a cell is suspected to be concealing drugs internally, healthcare professionals should take the lead in decision-making surrounding that person;
• Prisoners removed from the general population upon suspicion of internally secreting contraband should be subject to healthcare, not security observation.

Further advice issued by the Office of the Inspector of Prisons relates to the other occupants of the cell — with the report urging these inmates be relocated to a different cell immediately.

"Prisoners should never be obliged to remain in, or be returned to, a cell in which they have witnessed a death. This should be made clear to prison governors by the director general of the Irish Prison Service," it reads.

All prisoners who attend hospital following a serious incident, such as a suspected drug overdose, should be medically reviewed by a prison doctor on their return to prison or at the earliest opportunity thereafter, the inspector say.

They also call for protocols to be established between the Irish Prison Service and the HSE to ensure medical treatment and adequate aftercare is provided to prisoners before they are returned to a prison setting.

Hundreds of suspected nitazene tablets were handed over voluntarily by inmates of Mountjoy Prison following a fatal overdose linked to the drug in the jail last week.

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