The employment of unsuitable materials in the country's most modern prison cost the Government dear yesterday. The president of the Circuit Court, Mr Justice Spain, ordered the Minister for Justice to pay out almost £24,000 in compensation, to a prison officer.
Mr Paul Coffey, counsel for Mr Anthony Potter, told the court his client received a shoulder injury in February 1993 when a heavy chipboard door fell off his locker in Wheatfield Prison.
He claimed the Minister was negligent in having allowed the use of the wrong screws to attach the door hinges to the chipboard.
Mr Colm P. Condon, counsel for the Minister, submitted that since the screws were already embedded in the timber it would have been impossible to assess if they were the wrong type simply by looking at their head.
Judge Spain held that the Minister could not escape liability simply by claiming to have been supplied with a "clearly defective locker" by another party. The injuries suffered by Mr Potter, of Huntstown Woods, Dublin, had caused him considerable difficulty over a long period.
He awarded Mr Potter damages of £23,983.