Eight officers hurt in Mountjoy prison riot

Two prison officers were hospitalised and six others suffered minor injuries in a riot involving up to 40 inmates at Mountjoy prison this morning.

The disturbances broke out shortly after 9.30am when a number of inmates attacked the officer in charge of the a section of the prison's B-wing and attempted to drag him into a cell.

Colleagues came to his aid as other inmates showered them with the contents of their chamber pots and overturned bins.

A second group of inmates then attempted to steal a set of keys from another staff member but were unsuccessful.

The riot was quickly brought under control and inmates have been confined to their cells.

"The other wings of the prison were not affected and are functioning as normal," a spokesman for the Prison Service said.

The general secretary of the Prison Officers' Association John Clinton described the incident as a "very serious disturbance" and clamed overcrowding was causing security risks.

He said the POA had recently been given assurances that the number of prisoners in Mountjoy would not climb over 570 but said that there were 643 prisoners in the jail today.

“A prison officer has a demanding and challenging enough job at the best of times, but when you’re operating in a situation with overcrowded prisons, it makes it a far more difficult task,” Mr Clinton said.

He said "swift action on the part of the officers involved prevented it from turning into a much more serious incident".