Teen ‘caught digging up gun in park’
Pre-hearing inquest is told about 2018 death of murder accused in his jail cell
Tolka Valley Park
A YOUTH allegedly caught “digging up” a sawn-off shotgun has been further remanded in custody pending DPP directions.
The boy, 17, who has yet to indicate a plea, and who cannot be identified because he is a minor, was refused bail yesterday.
He was charged with unlawful possession of the gun on May 7 at Tolka Valley Park in Dublin.
He has been in custody on remand for three weeks and was before Judge Kelly at the children’s court.
Garda Daniel Sweeney said he expected an additional charge for the alleged possession of drugs worth €13,000 or more, which can carry 10 years.
He added: “He was caught red-handed in possession of a firearm.”
AN inquest into the jail death of a man accused of murdering his estranged wife is expected to focus on the frequency of checks carried out by prison officers plus psychiatric services provided in custody.
Keith Lee, 42, was found dead in the bathroom area of a specially adapted cell for wheelchair users in Dublin’s Mountjoy Prison on April 12, 2018.
Lee was on remand after being arrested and charged over the murder of Joanne Lee, 38.
The body of the native of Coolock, Dublin, also known as
Joanne Ball, had been found wrapped in a sleeping bag in a wardrobe inside a flat in Ranelagh on February 15, 2018, several days after Lee had reported her missing to gardai.
A pre-hearing of the inquest into Lee’s death at Dublin District Coroner’s Court yesterday heard more than 20 witnesses are scheduled to give evidence. Coroner Aisling Gannon ruled CCTV from the landing housing Lee’s cell would be available but could not be shown at a public hearing due to GDPR issues.
Counsel for the deceased’s family, Alison Fynes BL, sought a copy of a log book of prison officers relating to checks
FACILITY carried out before his death to be made available.
Ms Fynes also requested details on the policy of the Irish Prison Service for inmates given special observation status.
Lee, a chef, with a history of drug and alcohol abuse, suffered injuries including two broken legs after jumping from a third-storey window after gardai arrived after his spouse’s body was found.
As he was lying on the ground on Ranelagh Road, Lee was prevented from trying to inflict further injuries on himself in a second attempt to take his life by the intervention of a garda.
An Inspector of Prisons report into Lee’s death, published in 2020, revealed only 24 out of 48 scheduled checks were carried out on the night he died.
The interval between checks ranged from eight to 62 minutes. However, the report also acknowledged staff had been fooled into thinking he was asleep by his use of a dummy on his bed which looked
like he was lying under a duvet.
The inspector, Patricia Gilheaney, observed Lee had been psychiatrically reviewed during his 25 days in custody following his release from hospital with medics concluding he had not shown any evidence of major mental illness.
Lee had also consistently denied suicidal intent. The report noted he was placed on special observation when suicide notes and an improvised knife had been found in his cell on March 24, 2018 while he was in Cloverhill Prison.
The prisoner had been due to be transferred to Arbour Hill Prison but following the discovery of the notes, he was moved to Mountjoy which was considered more suitable for a remand prisoner in need of wheelchair accessible facilities.
September 5 was listed as a provisional date for the full inquest.