The High Court has ruled that a prisoner who ‘slopped out’ in Mountjoy Prison had his rights to privacy breached. The former inmate had been looking for compensation following his stay at the jail.
Gary Simpson is a former inmate at Mountjoy Jail who claimed his human rights were breached over a seven and half month period at the prison in 2013. He said he was subjected to a 23 hour lock up in a cell which had no toilet or running water.
The court heard prisoners had to use a chamber pot and other items like milk cartons as a toilet and then had empty them the following day. The former prisoner said he felt degraded and worthless due to the conditions there.
In his Judgement, Mr Justice Michael White said Mr Simpson’s slopping out in a shared cell was in breach of his constitutional right to privacy.
However, he added it didn’t amount to inhuman and degrading treatment and said he wasn’t awarding Mr Simpson damages as he felt some of his account had been untruthful.
