A prisoner who was granted temporary release following the death of his infant son died after returning to prison, having concealed drugs inside his body.
The man reported being pressured to bring drugs back into Limerick Prison during his release in November 2020.
According to a newly published report from the Inspector of Prisons, the 32-year-old, who was identified as Mr L, was serving an 18-month sentence when he was informed his infant child had died.
He was granted compassionate temporary release on November 9th, 2020, to attend the funeral.
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While on temporary release Mr L, who was a keen boxer before turning to illicit drug use, told his father he wanted to turn his life around but that he was being pressured to bring drugs back into prison after the funeral.
When he returned to Limerick Prison on November 11th, Mr L was placed in a special observation cell “on suspicion that he might have been concealing contraband”, the report states.
During this time he repeatedly tested negative for Covid-19 and appeared “very anxious” to return to his regular cell. He denied having drugs on his person but a urine sample tested positive for benzodiazepines and cocaine.
At times, he also appeared drowsy, disorientated and incoherent.
Prison officers checked on Mr L every 15 minutes. In the early hours of November 15th, officers noticed he was sleeping in “a semi-upright position”.
When officers entered the cell, he was unresponsive and had liquid coming from his mouth. Attempts to resuscitate Mr L were unsuccessful and he was pronounced death that morning.
The prison governor later told inspectors that he had been informed there were indications Mr L “did in fact have drugs concealed on his person”.
The Inspector of Prisons report noted that prison staff reported an increase in the number of inmates attempting to smuggle contraband internally back into the facility.
It said the case highlights the difficulties experienced by the Irish Prison Service (IPS) “in effectively monitoring people living in prisons who may have been internally secreting drugs.
“Visual observation by prison staff from outside cells is not always sufficient to detect a risk to life.”
An IPS spokesman said it is committed to using new technologies to prevent drug smuggling.
Research on the use of “body-imaging devices” to detect internally concealed contraband is ongoing.
The spokesman said it is also sharing intelligence with gardaí on a regular basis and that this has resulted in the “seizure of contraband, arrests and significant disruption to organised crime involved in smuggling contraband into Irish prisons”.
This includes Operation Throwover, which is intended to “disrupt, interdict and prosecute attempts to introduce contraband into prisons”.
The IPS is also examining anti-drone devices to stop drugs being flown into prison yards
In 2020, the year of Mr L’s death, prison authorities made just three drug seizures in Limerick. The next year this increased to 145.
Last year, there were 66 drug seizures in Limerick Prison. However, there have been no arrests in the last four years.
