Suicides point to prison's flaws - report

Serious concerns have been expressed about systems in place within the prison service to deal with mentally ill patients, following the suicides of two prisoners last year at Arbour Hill Prison, Dublin.

The men took their own lives within days of being returned to the prison following short stays at the Central Mental Hospital, Dublin. A third man transferred from the hospital back to the prison attempted to kill himself. He was saved by prison staff.

In its annual report for 2004, the ministerial-appointed visiting committee of Arbour Hill described as "disturbing" events surrounding the two suicides and attempted suicide. It has called for the events to be explained.

The report states: "Notwithstanding that Arbour Hill Prison did have a history of suicides and has a proactive policy on suicide awareness and prevention and that staff interact with and closely monitor inmates, it is deeply regrettable, and indeed disturbing, that there were two suicides and one attempted suicide in the course of the past year.

"It is also disturbing the prison authorities deemed it appropriate to seek accommodation at the Central Mental Hospital for all three inmates concerned and that all three inmates had been transferred to the CMH and had been sent back to the prison after a short stay.

"Within days of their return, two were dead and a third was saved only by the vigilance of prison staff. Whilst understanding medical confidentiality and the relevance of the statutory inquiries, we still feel that further elucidation is required."

The report was submitted to Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, in January.

The committee says while the services of a visiting psychiatrist are provided, "the absence of a dedicated psychiatrist remains a cause for concern". It said this was "pertinent to the 'suicide issue' " referred to in the report.

The appointment of a second psychologist to the prison was "imperative" and needed to be addressed with "extreme urgency". The lack of a second psychologist meant there was little opportunity for one-to-one work with inmates.

This was of "major concern in a prison where the majority of the inmates are in need of therapeutic intervention". Around half of the 140 inmates at Arbour Hill are sex offenders.

The Irish Prison Service said it was difficult to comment in the media on any cases involving individual inmates, particularly those involving a suicide which had a very significant impact on families. However, in relation to the cases highlighted in the report, a spokesman said vulnerable patients would have been seen by the prison's visiting psychiatrist.

As a result of these consultations, a decision would have been taken to transfer the men to the Central Mental Hospital.

The spokesman said the decision to send the men back to prison was made at the hospital by medical experts. When asked if there was a broader problem of psychiatrically ill people being sent to prison, rather than being given medical help, the spokesman said this had been suggested in the past by the governor of Mountjoy, John Lonergan.

However the spokesman added the prison service had no option but to accommodate any person given a custodial sentence by the courts. He said it was not the role of the prison service to decide on the long-term suitability for a medical health institution of a sentenced person.