Several recommendations made after a man collapsed in a cell at Dublin’s Criminal Courts of Justice (CCJ) and died in 2021 were not accepted by the Irish Prison Service (IPS) or have not yet been implemented, an inquest has heard.
A coroner’s court jury endorsed two of four recommendations made by the Office of the Inspector of Prisons (OIP) more than three years ago, after hearing none had been put in place.
Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard on Monday that Geoffrey Byrne, who had a history of blood clots and high blood pressure, died after suffering a cardiac arrest in a cell at the CCJ on December 8th, 2021.
The 42-year-old father of one went to Clondalkin Garda station that morning on foot of a bench warrant issued 10 years before.
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The outstanding warrant “came to light” while gardaí were investigating an unrelated matter, the inquest heard.
There would be no objection to bail and Byrne, who was described as a “model prisoner” during his brief time in custody, was expected to return home within hours, the court heard.
However, shortly after he was placed in a cell at the CCJ, at about 10.45am, Byrne told prison officer Michael Connolly he required his anticoagulant shot, which he took daily at 11am.
Within a minute or so, Connolly recalled hearing a “bang” and saw Byrne had collapsed.
CPR was performed and a defibrillator was used by prison officers until paramedics arrived. Byrne was transferred to the Mater hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Connolly told the inquest he received no information surrounding Byrne’s medical history.
The OIP’s investigation into the circumstances surrounding Byrne’s death found that while details of his medical conditions and medication had been provided to gardaí, “this level of detail was not provided to the IPS during the handover process”.
The inquest jury, which returned a verdict of death by natural causes, endorsed two recommendations made by the OIP in 2023, including that a “person escort record” be introduced and completed for every movement of a person into or out of custody.
It recommended that this record include details of all medication and when such medication should be administered.
The OIP noted in its report that it had made a similar recommendation following the death of another prisoner in 2019.
While the IPS accepted the recommendation, William Holligan, governor of the prison service escort corp, said work was still “ongoing” and that it had not yet been implemented.
He told the coroner, Dr Clare Keane, that the proposed record was being considered by An Garda Síochána.
The jury also endorsed the OIP’s recommendation that the IPS develop a procedure to provide healthcare personnel when a person requiring medical attention is placed into the temporary custody of the IPS.
However, Holligan said this had not been accepted by the IPS.
Simon Donagh, a barrister for the IPS, said the provision of healthcare staff was “logistically not possible”, noting there were “courts all over the country dealing with bench warrants being executed”.
