Latest news with #MidlandsPrison
BreakingNews.ie
06-07-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Closure of Arbour Hill prison recommended by group assessing prison capacity needs
The closure of the country's main prison for housing sex offenders has been recommended as a top priority by a group established to advise the Government on future prison capacity needs. A report by the group has called for the decommissioning of the prison at Arbour Hill in Dublin, which currently houses around 135 long-term prisoners, over the coming decade, although it accepted that it would require 'a suitable replacement facility.' Advertisement It has also recommended that priority should also be given to returning Mountjoy Prison to single-cell occupancy which would require around 210 prisoners currently housed in shared cells to be accommodated elsewhere. Given problems with overcrowding across the country's prison network, the group urged the Government to urgently explore opportunities to accelerate existing plans for large-scale capital projects and recommended fast-tracking such developments by seeking exemptions from normal funding timescales. It said consideration should be given to prioritising further development of Portlaoise Prison as well as the proposed expansion of the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise. The report noted that there was potential for new prison facilities at Thornton Hall in north Dublin and the redevelopment of the old Cork Prison site. Advertisement On Arbour Hill, the report said that despite its drug-free status and low level of assaults, the age of the prison and the fact that the majority of its buildings are protected structures meant the possibilities for future development were 'extremely limited.' It noted that the prison has a mix of single and double occupancy cells and although in-cell toilet facilities have been provided, they are not partitioned. The report revealed that the country's prisons were operating at 12 per cent above capacity at the start of 2025, despite some 300 extra prison spaces having been added in recent years. It also observed that the number of assaults on prisoners by other inmates rose by 31 per cent last year against a background of overcrowding in Irish prisons. Advertisement The highest number of people ever in prisons to date was reached on April 15th, 2025, when the prison population was recorded at 5,394 including 276 women. The official prison capacity at the end of 2024 was 4,531, while it is estimated the prison population is likely to exceed 6,000 by 2035. The report observed that some of the worst overcrowding is in the two female prisons with the Dóchas Centre in Mountjoy operating at 32 per cent above capacity. However, the female prison in Limerick is the most overcrowded facility in the network of prisons at 48 per cent above capacity. Advertisement For that reason, it recommended that consideration be given to increasing capacity at the two female prisons together with tailored initiatives to support women in the community. The report acknowledged that overcrowding in prisons poses a variety or risks including increased violence and assaults on staff and other prisoners and higher levels of contraband as well as unstructured early releases. It said the Irish Prison Service's current capital plan had the potential to accommodate 1,100 additional prisoners between 2024 and 2030 if fully funded with 230 expected to be available by the end of the current year. If fully implemented, it means the prison system will have capacity for 5,614 prisoners by 2030 if all existing prisons remain in use. Advertisement The group has also called for a pilot project to examine the possibility of housing being built on existing prison lands or close to prisons given the very significant challenges identified by released prisoners finding accommodation and the related impact on recidivism levels. Other recommendations include a call for further consideration to be given to the potential requirement for an additional remand facility given the numbers on remand have been rising at a faster rate than the general prison population and the limited capacity to increase numbers at the main remand facility at Cloverhill Prison in Dublin. The group also proposed the establishment of a dedicated medical unit in Mountjoy as well as examining the potential of Mountjoy to pilot a day prison model While the report acknowledged that work was already underway to create additional facilities for elderly prisoners and those with additional medical care needs, the group said it held the strong view that some prisoners should not be kept in a prisoner environment and should be moved to appropriate community facilities. Figures show the annual cost of housing a prisoner was just over €99,000 last year with each additional 100 prisoners estimated at approximately €10 million annually. The group was established in July 2024 by former Justice Minister, Helen McEntee to examine the infrastructural needs of Ireland's prison system out to 2035. While the report said it was 'notoriously difficult' to predict the size of prison populations, it noted that an increase in violent and drug-related crimes meant more prisoners require addictions and mental health support with the need for cross-departmental approaches to address such challenges. It stressed that putting people in prison is an expensive option and alternatives exist which are 'both more cost effective and provide better and more sustainable outcomes.'
Irish Times
16-06-2025
- Irish Times
Man serving 10-year sentence for raping student removed from teachers' register
A secondary schoolteacher serving a 10-year sentence for the oral rape of one of his students has been removed from the teachers' register. The decision was made on Monday at a Teaching Council fitness-to-teach inquiry, where the Disciplinary Committee Inquiry Panel also ruled that Patrick Joseph Bardon could not apply to be readmitted to the register for 20 years. Bardon is serving a 10-year sentence in the Midlands Prison for the oral rape of one of his then student, a male, between October 1992 and March 1994. Bardon was convicted of 11 charges of orally raping the then teenager on dates between October 1992 and March 1994 and was sentenced in October 2023 by Mr Justice David Keane. READ MORE The panel found that Bardon's rape convictions are 'fundamentally incompatible' with the teaching profession and its core values and that his conviction affected his fitness to teach. It also said his offences constituted 'an egregious breach of trust'. The panel noted that Bardon had engaged in grooming behaviour of his male victim over 20 months. Joanne Williams, barrister for the council, outlined some of the evidence from Bardon's criminal trial, including that the victim would regularly go to his house after school, where they would watch pornography together. The inquiry also heard that the victim corrected exam papers for Bardon for which the teacher gave him money. In its ruling, the panel said there was a risk of lifelong implications for the victim as a result of Bardon's behaviour. The offences took place at Bardon's home between October 1992 and March 1994, starting when he was 23 and his victim was 15. Bardon is serving his sentence in the Midlands Prison. In imposing the 20-year prohibition on teaching, the panel said this was necessary to protect the public. It also noted Bardon's probation report, which said that there was a moderate chance of reoffending. Mitigating factors that the panel took into account included that Bardon's short teaching career was blemish-free until the point the offences occurred and that he was in his early 20s at the time.
BreakingNews.ie
16-06-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Former teacher who orally raped student struck off for minimum of 20 years by Teaching Council
A former secondary school teacher who was convicted of the oral rape of one of his students over 30 years ago has been struck off from the register of teachers. An inquiry panel of the Teaching Council directed that the teacher, Patrick Joseph Bardon, be removed from the register and barred from re-applying to be eligible to teach for 20 years after it concluded his offending was 'fundamentally incompatible' with the teaching profession. Advertisement Bardon was given a 10-year prison sentence with the final two years suspended in October 2023 after being convicted following a six-day trial of 11 charges of oral rape of one of his male students on dates between October 1992 and March 1994. The identity of the student and the name of the school where Bardon was teaching cannot be published on direction of the inquiry panel. The former teacher of English, who is currently serving his prison sentence at the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise, did not attend the inquiry and was not legally represented. Announcing the inquiry's findings on Monday, the panel's chairperson, Adrian Guinan, said Bardon's offending was 'at the very highest end of the spectrum of wrongdoing' and represented 'an egregious breach of trust". Advertisement Mr Guinan said the former teacher had demonstrated a pattern of grooming over a 20-month period which involved getting his victim to watch pornography. He said the teacher should have been aware of the vulnerability of his victim and how his conduct could inflict lifelong injuries. The chairperson said the sanction was imposed in order to protect the public and specifically children as well as the reputation of the teaching profession and the integrity of the regulatory process. He also noted that Bardon had been assessed as being at a moderate risk of reoffending. Advertisement Mr Guinan said the panel had taken into consideration that Bardon previously had a blemish-free record and was relatively young when the offences took place, while he was also caring for his father at the time. He also acknowledged the teacher had demonstrated insight and noted the Teaching Council's sanction was not designed to further punish the teacher who had already received a custodial sentence and had lost his job. The inquiry heard Bardon had written to the Teaching Council in which he stated he fully accepted that the regulatory body would remove his name from the register and prevent him from teaching. Bardon, who is now in his mid-50s, said he would not contest the allegation that his criminal conviction for the offence of rape affected his fitness to teach. Advertisement The teacher told the Teaching Council that he did not believe any more time or money should be spent on the matter and urged it to reach its conclusions as quickly as possible. He also asked that publicity about the case could be avoided. Bardon acknowledged that the inquiry into his fitness to teach was 'an open and shut case". He also accepted that he must live with the consequences of his actions for the remainder of his life and asked the Teaching Council to take his punishment of a prison sentence into consideration. Advertisement In an earlier submission, counsel for the Teaching Council, Joanne Williams BL, had urged the inquiry panel to send out a message about the unacceptability of the teacher's conduct. Ms Williams said it had been 'utterly reprehensible' and 'incompatible with the teaching profession". She outlined how the offending had taken place in the teacher's house when one of his male students was helping him to correct mock papers. She said the offending began when the student was aged 15 and the accused was aged 23. Ms Williams said aggravating factors were the student-teacher relationship and the significant breach of trust. She said the student had provided a victim impact statement to the court in which he outlined how the offences had profoundly affected his life. She said the victim had contemplated suicide while what happened had also affected his relationship with his parents. He also suffered sleep disturbance, flashbacks and nightmares. The inquiry heard that Bardon, who had no previous convictions, had subsequently apologised unreservedly to his victim and expressed disappointment with himself at the sentencing hearing in the case. Ms Williams said the judge accepted the teacher's remorse was genuine. If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at or visit Rape Crisis Help .
