INQUEST HEARS PRISON OFFICERS HAD NOT BEEN TOLD OF CONCERNS OVER TRANSFERRED INMATE

received an anonymous note under his door, urging him to hang himself.

He believed that Mr O’Driscoll presented “an unprecedented risk of suicide” and if he had known that Mr O’Driscoll was to be transferred back to Cork Prison on May 1, he would have advised against it but he only learned of the transfer on May 2 when he checked his medical records.

The inquest heard that when Mr O’Driscoll arrived in Cork Prison on May 1, he was interviewed by prison nurse Una Twomey and he asked to go to the Central Mental Hospital as he said his family wanted him to go there but he denied any intent to self harm.

He had recently started on anti-depressant medication and he was on alerts for low moods, said Ms Twomey, adding that she knew he had been reviewed by a consultant psychiatrist in Portlaoise and she recommended that he be seen by a GP and a psychiatrist in Cork.

Dr George O’Mahony GP told how he saw Mr O’Driscoll on May 2 amid concerns that his mood was low and he noted there were worries that he was being bullied and named called by others in Cork. Mr O’Driscoll told him he was hearing voices but he didn’t think he had a psychotic illness.

He recommended that Mr O’Driscoll be transferred to D wing as he wanted to get away from people and he believed he would settle down there after a few weeks. ”I think his mental health issues were being aggravated by perceived pressures from other inmates,” he said.

Former prison psychiatrist Dr Eugene Morgan assessed Mr O’Driscoll on May 3 and May 4 and found him confused and difficult to engage with. He found that he had some fleeting thoughts of self harm but did not believe he was actively suicidal.

Dr Morgan thought that Mr O’Driscoll may have taken drugs on the transfer from Portlaoise as he was “out of it” but he believed he was in the appropriate type of cell and he recommended that he remain in the medical observation cell rather than the secure observation cell or padded cell.

Previously he used to see patients on a daily basis but due to financial cutbacks, he was reduced to seeing prisoners three times a week and he again saw Mr O’Driscoll on May 7 when he once more concluded he was in the appropriate type of cell where he was checked regularly.

He was due to see Mr O’Driscoll again on May 10, the day he took his own life, but he had to attend court at short notice. Dr Morgan said he didn’t believe Mr O’Driscoll needed to be put in the secure observation cell.

Mr O’Driscoll’s partner, Jenna Lane said that she had visited him in Portlaoise on April 27 and found he was his usual self but when she visited him in Cork Prison on May 5, she was shocked to discover him in such a poor state and the change was “incredible”.

“Roy had his head in his hands on the table. He was wearing prison clothes, he was unshaven, unwashed, and his hair was untidy. His nails had been eaten off almost completely and the skin around the tops of his fingers was bleeding. He wasn’t the usual Roy.

“I’d never seen him in such a condition. He was confused, in and out of conversation, and what conversation there was, was confused,” said Ms Lane, adding that she was so concerned that she asked to see the Prison Governor and ended up conveying her concerns to the Chief Prison Officer.

Prison officers at Cork Prison told the inquest that they were not aware that Mr O’Driscoll had been deemed by medical staff at Portlaoise Prison as being at “an unprecedented risk of suicide” prior to his transfer to Cork Prison on May 1 2013.

Prison Officer Brendan Conroy said that had he received any communication that Mr O’Driscoll was at a risk of suicide, he would have him placed in the secure observation cell rather than the medical observation cell on D1 wing where he took his own life on May 10 2013.

Mr Conroy explained that the secure observation cell – commonly known as a padded cell – had no suspension points on which to attach a ligature while it also had no sheet with which to create a ligature and inmates were not given metal cutlery which they could use to harm themselves.

“I had received no communication the man was such a high risk – if we had known, he would have been put in a padded cell – we would not have allowed a prisoner at high risk of suicide in such a cell with so many ligature points – we would not have left ourselves open to this happening.”

Mr Conroy thought that Mr O’Driscoll was having difficulty adjusting to the seven year term that he had been given for an assault as he was a young man with a young family and prisoners given long sentences often take time to adjust to the prison environment after they are first incarcerated.

Mr Conroy’s comments were echoed by fellow Prison Officer, David Keogh who said that they were not told that Mr O’Driscoll was at high risk of suicide when he arrived in Cork Prison on May 1. “If we knew that he was that way inclined, he would have been in the padded cell,” he told the inquest.

The inquest at Cork City Coroner’s Court heard that prison officers are not informed why a prisoner is put in a medical observation cell as such information is only given to medical staff in the prison because of a prisoner’s entitlement to confidentiality regarding their medical history.

A prisoner could be placed in a medical observation cell, where they are checked every 15 minutes, for some physical condition that they are suffering from as well as some mental health issue such as tendency towards self-harm or having suicidal thoughts, the inquest heard.

The inquest heard that Mr O’Driscoll was checked at 2.10pm on the day in question and was sitting on his bed but Mr Keogh said that when he went to collect cutlery from him at 2.20pm, he found him suspended by a ligature from a frame holding the TV.

He and fellow officer, Paul Ryan loosened the ligature and began CPR while Mr Conroy also assisted until prison nursing staff arrived and took over but Mr O’Driscoll was later pronounced dead at the scene and a post-mortem found he died from asphyxia due to suspension from a ligature.

Cork City Coroner, Dr Myra Cullinane thanked the jury for their four recommendations before extending her sympathies to Mr O’Driscoll’s family on their tragic loss. Anyone affected by suicide can contact the Samaritans on 116 123 or by email at jo@samaritans.org or Aware on 1800 804848.