The High Court has refused an interim injunction sought by Eddie Campbell to prevent his dismissal as a recruit prison officer and secure his return to full duties pending the determination of his proceedings against the Irish Prison Service and other State defendants.
Mr Justice Rory Mulcahy delivered the ruling on 15 December 2023. The application concerned a disciplinary process that ended with a decision to terminate Mr Campbell’s probationary contract. He challenged the process as unfair; the defendants maintained it followed the applicable procedure and respected fair procedures.
Mr Campbell had worked at Portlaoise Prison from April 2022. After he left residential accommodation there on 3 June, three plastic bags with white powder residue were found in a bedside locker during a deep clean on 9 June. The judgment records that Forensic Science Ireland identified the substance as cocaine, with the result relayed to the Irish Prison Service by Gardaí. Mr Campbell denied wrongdoing.
An internal investigation concluded that Mr Campbell had possessed and left the bags in the room and that the substance had been consumed during his training. It also found that he had breached rules by allowing a visitor into his room, but did not find that he had witnessed another officer consuming an illegal substance. These were disciplinary findings, not findings made by the High Court on this injunction application.
The court considered complaints about the change from the general civil service disciplinary code to Circular 04/2019, which applies to probationary entrants; access to evidence; legal representation; questioning witnesses; CCTV review; and independent testing of the bags. It concluded that Mr Campbell had not shown a strong case likely to succeed that the process breached fair procedures. The judge said the application was interlocutory and that his assessment did not determine the merits of the full case.
The court therefore refused the requested relief. Since the required threshold was not met, it did not consider the balance of convenience or whether damages would be an adequate remedy. The matter was listed for mention on 19 January 2024 to make final orders.