Women inmates ‘in inappropriate relationships with male staff ’
AN explosive new report has made allegations of ‘inappropriate relationships’ between some prisoners at the Dóchas women’s jail in Dublin ‘and a small number of male staff’.
The claims feature in a report by the Visiting Committee for 2017 – published by the Department of Justice – for the country’s only dedicated women’s prison in the Mountjoy campus.
The authors state: ‘Allegations have come to our attention of inappropriate relationships between some women and a small number of male staff.’
On allegations against Dóchas staff, the authors state that ‘if it is found that the behaviour of any prison officer, male or female, towards these women does not measure up to the highest professional standards demanded there is a clear duty on management, the Prison Service or other appropriate agency to take the necessary action’.
The revelations come after the Irish Daily Mail in January exclusively revealed how murderer Charlotte Mulhall, one of the notorious ‘Scissor Sisters’, had been transferred to Limerick Prison after she was caught having sex with a prison worker in her cell.
The employee is now facing full disciplinary sanctions up to and including dismissal over the incident, it is understood.
Charlotte Mulhall, 35, and the jail worker were caught ‘semi-naked’ and ‘in the act of sex’ on December 22 by a prison officer in her jail cell, according to sources. As a consequence, Mulhall was transferred to Limerick on Christmas Eve.
She was jailed along with her sister Linda for killing their mother’s partner, Kenyan Farah Swaleh Noor, in 2005.
Both Charlotte Mulhall and the prison worker allegedly caught with her were questioned separately about the alleged relationship. Both denied any kind of sexual involvement.
In a separate incident, in late 2017, a male member of prison staff, in a ‘very flustered’ state, was found hiding in Charlotte Mulhall’s bathroom. When interviewed after that incident, Charlotte claimed that she had been involved in a ten-month affair with the married man.
Meanwhile, love blossomed behind bars for Charlotte’s sister Linda, who struck up a relationship with a former prison officer who was working in the centre. Linda was released from the Dóchas a year ago after serving her sentence for manslaughter. The man in question took early retirement.
In the new report, its authors point out that the female inmates at Dóchas ‘are among the most vulnerable cohort in society’, and continues that ‘if the appropriate action is not taken or is inadequate, something is radically wrong’.
The authors state where an allegation of inappropriate conduct is made against prison staff ‘that as a matter of course these investigations should be conducted by external investigators who are unconnected with the prison service’.
A spokesman for the Prison Officers Association said that it is POA policy not to make any comment where disciplinary processes may be ongoing. The Prison Service was asked to comment on the contents of the report but had yet to reply by time of going to press last night.
‘Duty to take the necessary action’