AN ELDERLY man serving a sentence for child sex abuse has asked the High Court to order his release into a care facility arising from claims he suffers from a mental illness which cannot be properly addressed in prison.
The man has dementia and cannot be identified for legal reasons. He was detained at Arbour Hill prison after pleading guilty to indecently assaulting a boy a number of times during the 1980s.
Lawyers for the man have secured an order directing an inquiry into the legality of his detention under Article 40 of the Constitution, and that inquiry will be carried out by Mr Justice Michael Peart this week.
It is alleged the man’s detention is illegal on grounds including it amounts to inhuman and degrading treatment and he is being denied appropriate medical care while in custody.
In opposing the man’s release into a care facility, lawyers for the State have argued he “is not unfit for prison”.
In seeking the inquiry, Luán Ó Braonáin SC, for the prisoner, told the court the man was not fit for prison, his mental condition had deteriorated since he began his sentence and he was not getting the attention his condition required. The man’s constitutional rights to bodily integrity and rights under the European Convention on Human Rights were being breached.
Counsel said he was not contending these breaches had arisen out of “malice or badness” and it was accepted the prison authorities had done their best. However, it was his case circumstances had created a situation where the man was being subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment.
A letter from the prison governor to the man’s solicitors last month contained details of a report compiled by a doctor attached to the prison which indicated the man suffered from a medical condition requiring a greater degree of care than was available, counsel added.
The prisoner also claimed to see animals, including a giraffe, in his bed in the cell and needed reassuring from prison staff there were no animals present.
He said staff had removed a kettle from the man’s cell because he had scalded himself making a cup of tea.
He had also set fire to a bin in his cell while smoking a cigarette but did not move and was unable to call for help.
Counsel said there was correspondence to show, if released, a residential place was available where his client would be cared for.
Elva Duffy, for the State, said the man’s condition was constantly being reviewed by the Minister for Justice, and it was the view of the State at present that the man was not unfit for prison.