AN INMATE WHO had returned to Limerick Prison following temporary release to attend the funeral of his infant son died with drugs concealed on his person, a new report has found.

The report, published by the Office of the Inspector of Prisons last week, details the death of the 32-year-old, identified as Mr. L, who was serving an 18-month sentence at the time.

Mr. L had been granted compassionate temporary release on 9 November 2020 after being informed of his infant child’s death.

During his release, the man told his father that he wanted to turn his life around, but was under pressure to bring drugs back into prison after the funeral.

On returning to Limerick Prison on 11 November, Mr. L was placed in a special observation cell on suspicion that he might be 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.

While he denied having drugs on his person, a supervised urine test detected benzodiazepines and cocaine.

Staff also observed periods when he appeared drowsy, disorientated and incoherent.

Prison officers checked on Mr. L every 15 minutes. In the early hours of 15 November, officers noted he was sleeping in a “semi-upright position”.

When they entered the cell, he was unresponsive, with liquid coming from his mouth.

Attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead later that morning.

Following his death, the prison governor reported to inspectors that there were indications Mr. L “did in fact have drugs concealed on his person”.

The Inspector of Prisons noted an increase in the number of prisoners attempting to internally smuggle contraband back into prisons and highlighted the challenges faced by the Irish Prison Service (IPS) in effectively monitoring such inmates.

“Visual observation by prison staff from outside cells is not always sufficient to detect a risk to life,” the report stated.

An IPS spokesman said the service is committed to using new technologies to prevent drug smuggling.

Research into “body-imaging devices” to detect internally concealed contraband is ongoing.

The IPS also shares intelligence with gardaí, resulting in seizures, arrests, and disruption of organised crime involved in smuggling drugs into prisons.

A report by the Health and Research Board found that other security measures being introduced to deter the delivery of contraband into prisons include the installation of nets over exercise yards, enhanced CCTV monitoring, strict control of visits, drug-swabbing, random and targeted searches, and joint operations with gardaí.

In 2020, the year of Mr. L’s death, Limerick Prison recorded just three drug seizures. Drug seizures rose to 152 in 2022, and dropped to 66 last year.