A patient at the Central Mental Hospital died after a sustained and violent assault by a staff member, an inquest heard.
Gary Connell (35), who suffered from a psychotic illness, died following an aggressive assault by Brendan Cullen, an instructor in control and restraint technique, during which Mr Connell was kicked repeatedly in the head while lying on the ground.
The incident occurred on the morning of September 12th, 2001, while Mr Connell was being moved to a seclusion room in another part of the hospital, following a serious assault by him on another member of staff, Tony Cormican.
Care officer at the facility, John Thompson, was one of five staff members, including two psychiatric nurses, who gave evidence at Dublin City Coroner's Court yesterday about Cullen's attack on Mr Connell.
A number of staff members, including Mr Thompson, were involved in the difficult operation of bringing Mr Connell to another unit after the assault on Mr Cormican, the court heard.
The patient, who was of stocky build, was aggressive and struggling to escape and the staff were forced to the ground on numerous occasions for both their own and the patient's protection, the inquest heard.
Mr Connell was lying on the ground in Unit Two and staff were preparing to continue down the stairs with him when Cullen arrived and told the group he was in charge. "He gave him a couple of kicks to his head and his body. He kicked him with a full foot and kicked him two or three times in the head . . . He back-heeled him into the face again more than five times and less than 10 times. It was a sustained and rapid attack," Mr Thompson told the court.
Another care officer in the group bringing Mr Connell to the other unit, Damien O'Brien, said Cullen, whom he described as a big man, "walked around the side of [ Mr Connell] and gave him a few punches in the rib cage. The patient was lying on the ground and he kicked him in the head. They were forceful kicks. I saw six or seven kicks.
"They were straight kicks into the head and then he hit him with both knees down. He dropped down onto him."
He told the court he had never before seen someone lose control in the way Cullen had. The patient was subsequently handcuffed.
Psychiatric nurse Joe Bradley said he felt "sickened" at Cullen's behaviour and compromised in his position.
Staff managed to bring Mr Connell to Unit 1(b), where they proceeded to remove his clothes, as is standard procedure.
However, it was then realised that he was unwell and he was given oxygen and CPR. He was later removed to Beaumont hospital.
Consultant psychiatrist Emily McCabe told the court she received an emergency call to attend to a staff member in Unit 5 who had been assaulted by a patient. Later she was approached by nurse Bradley to prescribe a sedative for Mr Connell to calm him and to reduce further risk to staff, other patients and himself, which she did.
After she treated Mr Cormican, she went downstairs and was informed Mr Connell had collapsed and stopped breathing.
"I felt he was not responsive and dead at that point in time," she said. The only injury she noticed was to his right eye, which she couldn't see because it was swollen.
Consultant psychiatrist Prof Harry Kennedy told the court that Mr Connell, who had been transferred to the facility from Wheatfield prison, had never shown violent tendencies, apart from self-harm in prison.
He said the manner in which Mr Connell was handled was "completely unacceptable", and said the use of handcuffs was not part of the teaching in control and restraints.
He said there had been a lot of procedural changes at the hospital since the incident.
In June 2006 Cullen pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Mr Connell and was sentenced to four years, with two years suspended. On appeal, this was reduced to a two-year suspended term.
The inquest continues today.