Prisoners denied parole due to lack of mental health community supports

Three life prisoners with mental health issues were denied parole last year because community supports were not available, the Parole Board has revealed.

John Costello, chairman of the Parole Board, wrote in the foreword to the Board’s annual report: “At a Board Meeting earlier this year, the Board reviewed the cases of three life sentenced prisoners who have each been in prison for over 17 years. In all three cases, the Board was of the view that the individuals concerned should be recommended for temporary release.

“However, two of the prisoners had serious psychiatric problems and the other prisoner had an intellectual disability. It was not possible to recommend them for temporary release because the essential community supports were not available.

“As hundreds of prisoners have serious psychiatric or intellectual disability problems, this is going to become a more regular occurrence. Indeed, Professor of Psychiatry, Brendan Kelly, in a letter in 2016 to the Irish Times stated that ‘prisons are toxic for the mentally ill’.”

The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) said this suggested Irish practices were not in line with the UN’s Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners or its Bangkok Rules.

Rule 110 of the Standard Minimum Rules says “steps should be taken, by arrangement with the appropriate agencies, to ensure if necessary the continuation of psychiatric treatment after release and the provision of social-psychiatric after-care”.

The Bangkok Rules recommend authorities should “ensure that those with mental health care needs are housed in accommodation which is not restrictive, and at the lowest possible security level, and received appropriate treatment, rather than being placed in higher security level facilities solely due to their mental health problems”.

In a statement, the IPRT said: “The Parole Board’s Report seems to indicate that practice in Ireland does not meet these standards, with concerning implications for the human rights of prisoners with mental health issues.”