The High Court found no basis to make an order on a prisoner’s application alleging ill treatment at Wheatfield Prison. Mr Justice Charleton said the complaints had been investigated and the application did not involve an immediate threat, medical peril or grave depression that would justify going to court before an appeal had run its course.
The judgment, delivered on 5 March 2012, said the prisoner had complained to the prison governor and appealed to the director general of the prison service while his court application was pending. The judge said the available material showed the complaints had been investigated thoroughly and there was no evidence that the governor had failed to consider them with an open mind.
The complaints included alleged bullying by an officer, an allegation that a cell door had been left open to facilitate an assault, missed education, cell-sharing arrangements, access to asthma medication and a claim that a visitor had been strip searched. The judgment recorded that the bullying allegations were denied and found no objective support for them. It said an investigation into a missed cereal breakfast found an officer had later provided cereal to ensure fair nourishment.
The court considered an assault in which two prisoners entered the applicant’s cell and beat him about the head. He sought help with a bloodied head and face, was taken to surgery and received medical attention. The judge said the circumstances did not raise even a suspicion of collusion by prison authorities. The judgment also noted that another prisoner was alleged to have kept watch at the cell door, and that the applicant did not cooperate when the prison authorities reported the incident to gardaí.
On education, the court said the prison offered schooling and music and art lessons, and that records showed the applicant had missed lessons after reporting sick. It found no evidence of deprivation or discrimination in education or cell sharing.
The judge said there was no diagnosis of asthma and no evidence the applicant was being deprived of medication. The court could not decide what medication should be provided, which was a matter for the prison doctor, and said it should not make an order about a possible breathing review. It also found no evidence that anyone connected to the applicant had been strip searched, describing the reported search as a visitor being patted down for contraband.
The court made no order, saying there was no basis on which it could do so. The judgment did not determine the pending prison-service appeal.