Eight prison officers had hospital treatment for minor injuries they received during a violent incident in Wheatfield prison yesterday when two inmates attacked staff with makeshift weapons. The incident occurred at about 9.30 a.m. when two prison officers were unlocking the cells in unit 8 on the first floor, which contains 18 prisoners.
The west Dublin prison houses 366 prisoners.
One prisoner attacked the officers with a sharpened dining knife while a second beat them with a broom handle. Other prisoners on the landing threw delph at the staff, who retreated to raise the alarm. The prisoners were disarmed and restrained and after 40 minutes the incident concluded. They were placed in a segregation unit pending disciplinary action.
Eight officers received treatment in St James's Hospital and were later discharged. The two prison officers attacked while unlocking the cells suffered head injuries and cuts and bruises, another suffered a fractured arm and one received treatment to a deep cut on his head.
It is understood that both prisoners involved in the incident were serving six-year sentences and were due for release in 2002. One had been repatriated from England and was serving a sentence for manslaughter. The second was convicted of robbery.
According to the general secretary of the Prison Officers' Association, Mr John Clinton, the disturbance may have originated in the annoyance of one prisoner who was not allowed to make a phone call on Tuesday evening.
"The officer overseeing the phone calls had more units than usual because on the night in question, staff was short and he just didn't get to unit 8 in the allotted time. In fairness to management, they couldn't have envisaged this would happen but these kinds of shortages can lead to dangerous incidents."
Mr Clinton said the incident highlighted how prisoners could react when they did not receive what they felt they would be entitled to. Prisoners can make two phone calls a week.
The deputy governor of Wheat field, Mr John Dooley, said a report on the incident had been sent to the Department of Justice. A spokesman for the prisons service stressed that assaults of this kind were rare. "This reflects the generally relaxed and positive regime in Irish prisons." However, the attack was "utterly deplored" and any lessons drawn would be taken on board by the prison authorities.
Mrs Nora Owen, the deputy leader of Fine Gael, yesterday called on the Minister for Justice to launch a full investigation. "How can prison officers working in a state-of-the-art prison be exposed to such danger? How did such a security breach occur in a modern, purpose-built prison?
"Given the lessons learnt from the hostage-taking episode in Mountjoy prison a few years ago, questions must be asked as to whether all of the recommendations made at that time have been implemented, to provide protection for the prison officers who carry out this difficult task on behalf of the State," she said.