Mr. John Finucane:

I thank the committee for inviting me to address it today on issues surrounding Maghaberry Prison. It is to the credit of this committee that in convening today to discuss Maghaberry Prison, it recognises the significant relationship between securing a just and lasting peace and the state and conditions within the largest prison in our jurisdiction. While it is understandable that other areas of the criminal justice system, for example the police or the court system, have previously been under intense scrutiny in the context of implementing the Good Friday Agreement, it has led to the prison service avoiding being held to similar standards and account.

My name is John Finucane. I am director of Finucane Toner solicitors, a Belfast based solicitors firm. My firm specialises in criminal defence work, civil litigation and judicial review proceedings against many institutions but most predominantly the Northern Ireland Prison Service. I have been attending Maghaberry in a professional capacity for over ten years and I have had a unique insight into various areas of prison life. This includes, but is not exclusive to, dealing with sentenced and remand prisoners from all backgrounds charged with or sentenced for the full range of offences across the criminal justice spectrum. I regularly deal with prison staff on the ground right up to governor level.

Maghaberry Prison has undoubtedly come under intense scrutiny following a series of damning reports and incidents. It has been described as one of the most expensive and dangerous prisons in western Europe, run by ineffective management and supported by over-worked, under-resourced staff with low morale. The committee need only look to August and September 2016 to see two damning prison service ombudsman reports. The case of Sean Lynch, an inmate suffering from psychiatric issues who inflicted extreme and shocking injuries upon himself, detailed a catalogue of failures. This report closely followed the ombudsman’s investigation into the death in custody of Paddy Kelly in March 2015. According to this report, an inmate, who was known to be at risk of self-harm, took a fatal overdose of his own prescription drugs, despite asking not to be put in control of them. His overdose was foreseeable and his death preventable.

I have had experience of numerous inmates who suffer from various degrees of mental health and physical problems and I have yet to see any tangible improvement in how they are treated. As recently as yesterday, I received a call from a client who has had medication prescribed by a psychiatrist arbitrarily removed by medical staff who attract numerous complaints about the way in which they deal with inmates. It is commonplace in my experience that failure to deal with medication can easily push inmates to the readily available opportunity to self-medicate with the myriad of unlawful drugs available within Maghaberry. Medical care is under the governance of the health trust and while a custodial environment presents obvious challenges, there continues to exist a lack of co-operation between prison and health officials, resulting in inmates suffering and, in extreme cases, dying.

The ombudsman has cited security concerns with little basis in reality trumping their duty of care to inmates and this is a theme which increases in severity in my experience when dealing with prisoners in the separated regime of Roe House. Roe House is where those accused or sentenced for offences claimed or linked to dissident republicanism are housed. It is practically a jail within a jail and operates on a different basis to inmates housed elsewhere. I began by alluding to the historic relationship that exists in Ireland between the level of peace within society and the tension, or lack of it. within prisons. The committee will be aware of repeated failures and missed opportunities to reach an accommodation between prisoners in Roe House and prison authorities aimed at reducing tension and securing an environment in which staff and inmates are treated safely with dignity and respect. Areas which have yet to be resolved include controlled movement, strip searching, and access to education and trade skills. As recently as this week, in the case of Gerard Flannigan, a client of my office, the issue of strip searching and specifically the video recording of strip searches was before the Court of Appeal in Belfast.

The Prison Service has argued that it is entitled both to record an inmate's strip search and to retain that recording for six years. We were successful at the Court of First Instance and it would be of no surprise if this case reached the Supreme Court. I highlight it not to get into the detail of the arguments today, but as a clear example of security concerns with little basis in reality trumping a duty of care. Prison staff have a justifiable expectation to be treated with dignity and respect, but any democratic society must also expect that sentiment to be reciprocated.

In a similar vein, I also represent a sentenced prisoner of Roe House who has been continually frustrated in his attempts to complete an Open University degree. Course work which must be completed online is unable to be submitted due to the denial of computers under the excuse of security. In fact, the level of education open to prisoners in the general population far exceeds what is available within Roe House. Essential skills, GCSEs, A levels and trade skills are all denied to inmates housed in Roe and only those capable of completing a degree level course through the Open University are capable of engaging in even a small way in education. These examples may seem anecdotal in nature but they are just a couple of many I could raise with the committee today.

If inmates were the sole cause of conflict within the prison, they should rightfully be exposed for it. However, the committee needs to address a prison management system that is failing not just the inmates of Roe but all inmates within Maghaberry in its apparent lack of genuine desire to show mature leadership. In the context of the Good Friday Agreement, there must be a political will to ensure that prison reform is based on well-established human rights principles and that everyone from inmates to staff, professionals and families who attend the prison are treated with dignity and respect. The problems of Maghaberry Prison are not insurmountable, but it takes all sides to have equally the desire to address them. I thank the committee for its focus on Maghaberry today and I urge all members to bring their influence to bear to create a better prison environment for everyone.