Michael Corbett jailed for further 30 months over Mountjoy prison officer attack
This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.
Michael Corbett was sentenced at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on March 14, 2022 to a further 30 months in prison for an attack on a prison officer. He had pleaded guilty to assaulting the officer causing him harm and producing a weapon at Mountjoy Prison.
Judge Melanie Greally ordered the sentence to run consecutively to the six years Corbett was serving for the attempted murder of a teenager at the Hellfire Club. She suspended the final 12 months for five years.
The court heard that the attack took place on October 19, 2020 and involved a shiv made from a toothbrush and blade. Garda Aoife Scully said the officer hit his head against a door frame during the struggle and took a week off work.
Judge Greally cited the fact that the officer was at work and the advance preparation of the weapon as aggravating factors. She also noted Corbett’s relevant previous convictions and a very high risk of reoffending. She considered a psychiatric report and noted that he was cooperative, had made admissions and appeared to show some remorse.
At the previous hearing, defence counsel Mark Lynam said Corbett suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, had not taken his medication for a week and was experiencing auditory hallucinations. He accepted that Corbett was a risk to the public when not taking medication, but said his mental health began to improve when he took it.
The suspension conditions include 15 years of post-release supervision, weekly signing at a garda station for five years, taking prescribed medication, avoiding illicit substances and engaging with mental health supports.
Corbett had pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of a 17-year-old on June 27, 2016. In July 2018, Mr Justice Michael White imposed a nine-year sentence, suspending six years. Those six years were reactivated in July 2020 after Corbett assaulted other inmates.
Corbett also pleaded guilty to assaulting psychiatric nurse Declan Curtin, causing him harm, at the Central Mental Hospital on October 6, 2016. In June 2019, Judge Greally imposed a five-year sentence, backdated to September 2018, suspending the final two and a half years for 15 years.
The conditions attached to that suspension included 15 years of Probation Service supervision, living at an agreed address, pre-release planning, engaging with community services, taking prescribed medication, attending appointments and avoiding illicit substances.