Brian O'Shea
Ceist:1007 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will investigate the concerns of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2403/02]
Written Answers. - Garda Investigations.
This person is serving a five year prison sentence, with the last year sus pended, for an assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He is also serving a three and a half year sentence for handling stolen property.
This offender has made repeated complaints about the way he perceives he has been treated by the authorities, and in particular the Prison Service. The allegations of ill-treatment in Wheatfield Prison on 27 October 2000 have been investigated thoroughly by the governor of that institution who concluded that these allegations were unfounded. In this regard, statements were made by a number of prison officers, all of whom were either not aware of or deny the allegations made by the prisoner and his family. During the course of the investigation, a security camera video tape of the alleged incident was examined and, despite the allegations, there is no evidence of aggressive behaviour by any of the prison officers present. This matter was also investigated by Garda at Ronanstown Garda station and a file forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. No prosecution ensued.
This offender's other complaints have similarly been investigated by prison management and have also proved to be either without substance or trivial in nature. To emphasise this, I would like to state that in November and December 2000 he made 30 complaints regarding ill-treatment during his time in custody to the visiting committee in Mountjoy Prison. Each of these complaints, which included accusations that his newspapers had gone missing and that the prison library refused to make photocopies for him, were fully investigated.