Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 2 Apr 1992

Vol. 418 No. 2

Adjournment Debate. - Prison Suicide.

Mr. McCartan

I thank the Office of the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise this matter on the Adjournment and I also thank the Minister for Justice for coming into the House to listen to what I have to say.

The tragic life of Derek Ward who committed suicide on St. Patrick's Day and the horrific circumstances leading to his imprisonment in St. Patrick's Institution should have alerted all concerned to his mental instability. He was accused — and it is generally established as accepted fact — of being involved in the brutal multiple stabbing to death of his mother. His father, whom he had never met outside prison, has been serving a term of life imprisonment in the United Kingdom, Derek, along with all his brothers and sisters, was raised in cruel institutions, orphanages, in the United Kingdom. The cruelty meted out to him is illustrated in a letter that I received from his father in January of this year a short time before young Derek took his life. I have included this letter with my statement and I hope that on making it available to the Minister and to the House it will be included in full in the Official Report, as I will not have time to read it in full.

His two older brothers had spent terms in prison recently on the Isle of Wight. His cousin, his children and her children perished in a fire in Clondalkin and his uncle is serving life imprisonment for this horrendous act. In addition, an aunt and another cousin died around the same time in a separate fire. All these facts were known to the authorities when Derek was arrested. If ever a prisoner required urgent and close care and attention it was Derek Ward.

As I said earlier, I had received a letter in early January from Derek's father, Mr. John Ward, who is in prison in the United Kingdom. He complained specifically about the cruel way Derek had been treated while in care in the United Kingdom. More importantly, he expressed explicit concern for the boy's welfare and his state of mind. He said:

I am also very very concerned for the safety of the boy the state of his mind at this present time which I am most sure you will understand. I pray you will tell the people that has the care of him to keep their eyes on the boy. I am also writing to the police in charge of the case to watch the boy. I will also write to the Bridewell courts a letter to the Judge in the case to be aware that I will hold the authorities responsible for the well being of my son Derek. I will have those letters that I write to those people photocopied so that they can't say they have not known the boy could be in danger from himself.

So wrote Derek Ward's father on 1 January 1992. A little over two months later Derek Ward did what his father believed likely — he took his own life.

I am asking the Minister for Justice to carry out the fullest inquiry to establish whether any of the other authorities mentioned in the letter had received the correspondence from Mr. Ward alerting them to the dangers that he believed Derek was facing and to establish whether any of these letters were brought to the attention of the prison authorities and the doctors in charge of him. One of the points expressed in successive replies from Ministers for Justice on this unfortunate phenomenon of death in prison is that the Minister is doing everything to accelerate the method of identifying people at risk and being able to respond to them. Derek's father had written in clear and unambiguous language to all of the authorities who had charge of his son expressing his worries about the dangers involved to Derek. If that letter had never been written, the facts surrounding this tragic man's life and leading up to his incarceration were of themselves clear indicators.

The use of the window bars of the cell by people intending to commit suicide has been highlighted time and again, and this was the very way that Derek Ward took his life. An immediate requirement is that no prisoner who, like Derek Ward, is identified as being at risk should ever be placed in a cell which has easy access to window bars. More importantly, the admissions unit to supervise all prison admissions, as recommended by the advisory committee, must be established now without delay. No prisoner like Derek Ward should ever be locked in a normal prison cell before or after trial. Derek Ward needed treatment, not punishment. The psychiatric facilities in prisons must be expanded and developed even ahead — I say this advisedly — of the HIV or other medical units being planned. I know that a medical unit specifically geared to deal with HIV is being considered if not being built in Mountjoy at present, but there has been a great deal of debate and discussion as to whether this is the way to deal with this category of prisoner. I urge the Minister to consider adapting that particular building programme to the specific recommendation in the committee's report with regard to the admissions unit.

Finally, if the death toll in our prisons is to be ended, the full recommendations of the Whitaker report on penal reform must be implemented.

Mr. Flynn

I, of course, share the concern to which deaths in prison give rise. As for the death and the attempted suicide which have led to the debate this evening, I am sure the House will agree that the death of this young person in such tragic circumstances — whether it occurs in prison or in the community — is a matter of great regret and concern to all.

The circumstances surrounding the death of this young man are as follows: On 30 December the youth, who was aged 19 years, was remanded by Dublin District Court to St. Patrick's Institution on a charge of murder, an offence which allegedly occurred on 28 December 1991. During his period of committal he was seen on a regular basis by the medical officer, the Department's psychologist and the visiting psychiatrist. The prisoner was held under special observation, which means that he was checked by staff every 20 minutes over a 24-hour period.

The prisoner, when checked at 12.10 a.m. on 18 March 1992, was lying on his bunk. When checked again 20 minutes later at 12.30 a.m., he was found by prison staff hanged in his cell. The prison staff immediately took steps to resuscitate him. He was taken directly to the local hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

An inquest will take place into the death. As the Deputy is aware, under the Coroner's Act, 1962, the coroner is an independent officer specifically appointed to investigate such deaths. He may sit with or without a jury of independent citizens and may summon such witnesses, be they eye witnesses or expert witnesses, as he wishes to enable him or the jury to come to a verdict in the case. It is the function of the inquest to inquire not merely into the causes of death in the medical sense but to investigate all circumstances relating to the death. This will therefore be an independent, statutory inquiry held in public and at this stage I am satisfied that no other public inquiry is called for.

In addition to the inquest an internal investigation will be carried out by the suicide prevention group in the prison which was established following the recommendation of the Advisory Group on Prison Deaths.

Turning to general matters, deaths in custody are an unfortunate reality faced by prison administrations the world over. Because of the concern which deaths in prison understandably give rise to, my predecessor established in November, 1989 an advisory group to specifically examine this issue of deaths in prisons and to make recommendations in relation to any aspect of the matter. The group fully appreciate the urgency which attached to their task but, given the enormously complex and sensitive issues which they had to address, it was clearly vital that they had sufficient time to enable them to deal with these matters comprehensively over whatever period proved necessary. They presented their report in August of last year to the Minister and he published it in October. In the six-month period that has elapsed since the publication of the report, and despite the talk there has been in some quarters of cosmetic changes and lack of political will to do something about the situation, 26 recommendations have been implemented and I will now go through a number of these for the House.

The introduction of 24-hour medical cover in our eight closed institutions was a major recommendation of the group. This has been done and it involved recruiting an additional 43 medically trained staff at a cost of over £500,000 per year. Another major recommendation of the group was that increased psychological services be made available to prisoners. I am seeking to have the number of clinical psychologists increased from three to eight. This will include the provision of a female psychologist for female prisoners, another recommendation of the group. Effect has been given to another recommendation where counselling after a suicide will be available on a formalised basis for prisoners and staff alike who have been affected by the suicide. The installation of a cell-call system, whereby prisoners in distress can electronically alert staff has been completed. An alternative system of lighting to the present outdated system which disturbed prisoners while asleep, is being installed at present in the prisons.

The Samaritans service has been introduced to our institutions and they are now involved in befriending prisoners in Cork, Loughan House, Mountjoy Male and Female and St. Patrick's. They will shortly be in Limerick, Fort Mitchel, Spike Island and our new place of detention at Wheatfield. We are also introducing a system whereby a cordless phone with a dedicated phone line to the Samaritans will be available to depressed, lonely or suicidal prisoners at all hours of the day. The Samaritans have kindly made arrangements to have a dedicated phone line exclusively for distressed prisoners in custody.

Lack of training for custodial officers in suicide awareness has been mentioned recently by commentators. I am arranging, again, with the help of the Samaritans, that a two-day training course be set up in the coming months. This will cover the way a prison officer would relate to a distressed prisoner, the importance of active listening, being non-judgemental and non-directive, the stigma of suicide, bereavement, depression, sexuality and young people at risk. Role plays and dynamic communication will be used to make the skills gained by staff as practicable and applicable as possible. This type of course, when fully developed, will be incorporated into induction training for all new recruits. These particular recommendations involve considerable expenditure and I am sure the House will agree that their implementation clearly shows the commitment to prison suicide prevention policy that this Government have.

Other recommendations implemented to date are the setting up of a suicide prevention group in each institution, the review of special observation lists, improvements in committal assessment arrangements, introduction of and training in resuscitation equipment. As I said previously, discussions have already taken place with the Eastern Health Board with a view to substantially improving the quality and quantity of psychiatric care for prisoners and additional moneys are being provided this year for that purpose. Arrangements are also in train for the implementation of a further 13 of the advisory group's recommendations.

The remaining recommendations, such as the provision of a committal assessment centre, a new female prison, a new open centre for females, a unit to cater for psychiatrically disturbed violent prisoners, access to toilet and wash-up facilities on a 24-hour basis, provision of telephone facilities for prisoners, refurbishing and brightening of all prison buildings and exercise yards, are being fully taken into account in the context of overall development of the prison system. The advisory group itself, recognising the cost and resource implications of these recommendations, and describing them as being long term in nature, accepted that this may lead to a gradual approach to implementation.

I could not end this evening without paying tribute to the prison service. It performs a vital and complex role on behalf of society. Prompt action by staff has helped to prevent 20 suicides already this year.

I am glad to have had the opportunity to speak on these matters this evening. Obviously in the course of my reply, I have been able to deal with only some of the issues which have been raised. I would like to say in conclusion to the House that every practical measure is being adopted to reduce suicides in prisons. We have a good report on the issue and we are pursuing a planned programme of action on the basis of that report. Its implementation is a matter of the highest priority for me and my Department.