Prisoner found hanged in his cell in Castlerea

A 24-year-old burglar has been found hanged in his cell in Castlerea Prison in Co Roscommon, a day after he appeared in court on further charges of larceny and theft.

The man was found hanging by a ligature at the window of his cell at 10 p.m. on Saturday while other prisoners attended a performance of Frank McGuinness's play Someone to Watch Over Me.

The prison director, Mr Dan Scannell, was called to the scene, and waited for a doctor and gardaí to arrive. The man was pronounced dead, and removed to hospital.

The Prison Service yesterday confirmed the death, which was the first prison suicide this year, and said a suicide awareness group would carry out a full investigation.

The dead man was well known to gardaí in his home town, but was not considered a suicide risk. He was serving an 18-month sentence for burglary, and had spent five of the past seven years in prison.

There were four prison suicides last year, and one in 2001.

A Prison Service spokesman said the death was not connected with an industrial relations dispute in Castlerea. Prison officers have staged two, one-hour work stoppages in the past week in protest at a range of industrial relations, bullying and harassment issues. Some progress has been made in meetings between prison authorities and union officials, according to the spokesman.