Prisoner detention protocol in connection with death of defenseless woman, inquiry hears – The Irish Times.

The Guard and Irish Prison Service are working to introduce a protocol for formally documenting the incarceration of people in response to the suicide attempt of a defenseless woman at the Dóchas Center five years ago, according to an investigation.

Monika Nawrat (33), a mother of two from Zakopane, was found unconscious in her cell at the Dóchas center on the Mountjoy prison complex on October 4, 2019. She died 10 days later in the Mater Hospital, never having recovered. awareness.

On Wednesday, at the Dublin County Coroner’s Court, a jury of five women and one man returned a verdict of death by suicide.

On 3 October 2019, Ms Nawrat – who has a history of mental health problems and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia – appeared before Trim District Court on a public order charge.

The court granted Ms. Nawrat bail, but she was unable to pay the EUR 100 bail and was placed in custody. While awaiting transfer to the Dóchas Centre, Ms Nawrat suffered self-harm in the custody of Trim District Court. Due to concerns for her condition, Gardaí attended and she was taken by ambulance to Mullingar Regional Hospital before being discharged and taken to the Dóchas Centre.

The court heard there was “some contradiction” over Ms Nawrat’s alleged comment about her initial placement at the Dóchas Center, when she allegedly expressed “suicidal intention”. According to a report prepared by the Office of the Inspectorate of Prisons, a Garda witness claimed to have heard Ms Nawrat say she would “kill herself” in the main hall of the Dóchas Centre, but a prison officer witness stated he did not hear this.

Ray Murtagh, who was director of the Dóchas Center at the time of the incident, told the court that medical staff who examined Ms Nawrat after she was placed in prison did not consider that she was likely to self-harm. The court heard Ms Nawrat denied to a prison nurse and doctor that she intended to harm herself or take her own life.

Murtagh described how, after learning about Ms. Nawrat’s case, he drew up a template document to put in place a formal, written document transfer system that documented each inmate’s entry into service. He added that the document was currently being reviewed by An Garda Síochána’s legal department.

Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane sent condolences to the deceased’s family, including her son and former partner, who were present in court. She commented that the most poignant evidence heard in court was that Ms Nawrat “was thinking about her children in the last moments of her life”, a reference to the writings she left on the wall of her cell.