A recovering heroin addict has been forced to sleep in cramped conditions with seven other prisoners on the floor of a filthy, rodent-infested cell in Mountjoy prison, the High Court has been told.
Niall Durnin SC, for Jonathan Duffy, Tallaght, Co Dublin, said the cell had no beds and all the prisoners had to sleep on stained, stench-ridden mattresses without any other form of bedding.
Mr Justice Michael Hanna directed that an inquiry be conducted this morning by the High Court into the lawfulness of Duffy's detention in such circumstances on the grounds that they violated his human and constitutional rights and were a risk to his health.
Mr Durnin told the court his client had been sentenced to three months imprisonment at Trim District Court last Wednesday and had slept that night and on Thursday night in totally unacceptable conditions.
His solicitor, Gráinne Malone, said the cell in which the eight prisoners had to sleep was only 4m by 3.5m and contained a partitioned-off toilet which had neither door nor screen.
The cell was infested with mice and insects, was filthy and in a state of disrepair.
The window, comprising some narrow rectangular shaped holes about 1.5m (about 5ft) above the floor, was the only source of ventilation. The sill was covered in rotting and rotten food, sour milk and accompanying mould.
Ms Malone said Duffy and his cellmates had been told that beds and bedding could not be found but just before midnight, they had been brought to a pile of bedding and mattresses in the basement and told to take their pick from the pile.
There was insufficient bedding and Duffy had to sleep without blankets on the mattress.
"The bedding and mattresses did not appear to have been recently cleaned and were in a state of significant disrepair," Ms Malone said.
"They bore the marks and stains of previous users, they were filthy, stained and had the stench of their previous use." She said the beds and bedding had been taken from them at 6.30am.
An inquiry under article 40 of the Constitution is scheduled to be heard before Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne in the High Court today at 11am.