No other footage of prisoner's death while being restrained at Cloverhill, inquest hears

Seán McCárthaigh

An inquest into the death of a prisoner while being physically restrained at Cloverhill Prison in Dublin six years ago has heard that no further CCTV footage of the fatal incident exists, despite concern by some prison staff that some images might not be available as evidence in the case.

Ivan Rosney (37), a father of four from St Cynoc’s Terrace, Ferbane, Co Offaly, died on September 28th, 2020, after becoming unwell while being restrained by several prison officers in Cloverhill Prison.

Prison staff were attempting to bring him to a booth on the ground floor of the prison for a court appearance via video-link at the time.

Rosney, who had a history of mental health issues, had been remanded to prison a few days earlier after he was arrested following an incident in his father’s house when he became physically aggressive.

A previous sitting of the inquest in March was adjourned after several prison officers listed as witnesses expressed concern that more CCTV footage of the fatal incident existed after they had reviewed videos due to be shown to a jury.

The coroner, Myra Cullinane, took the decision not to proceed with the hearing on that occasion after legal representatives of the Irish Prison Service said it appeared that footage of the initial management of “an escalating situation” was “missing entirely.”

Several prison staff believed there was a view from another camera angle of the incident, looking down a corridor towards Mr Rosney’s cell that was not included in a video due to be shown in evidence.

However, counsel for the IPS, James McDermott BL, told the coroner this week that no such additional footage had been found.

Asked about what footage should be shown to a jury, McDermott said he believed a video showing up to seven prison officers arriving at Rosney’s cell to show that there had been “a normal situation and that additional personnel were called for.”

He pointed out that two prisoner officers had initially gone to the cell, but that the deceased was “reluctant to appear.”

The solicitor for the deceased’s relatives, Margaret Tansey, said she was happy with the information that no additional footage existed, and her clients had just wanted clarification on the issue.

Dr Cullinane said the full inquest was now scheduled to be heard on June 30th.

The coroner also offered her condolences on the recent death of Charles McKean of the Chief State Solicitor’s office, who had represented the IPS in previous sittings of the inquest.

At a preliminary hearing in June 2023, it was revealed that the DPP had directed that no criminal prosecution should arise from the circumstances of Rosney’s death following a Garda investigation.