{"id":378569,"date":"2026-04-02T17:14:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T17:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/378569\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T17:14:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T17:14:11","slug":"major-investigation-as-volatile-prisoner-with-psychiatric-problems-died-in-padded-cell-after-having-to-be-restrained-by-prison-officers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/378569\/","title":{"rendered":"Major investigation as volatile prisoner with ‘psychiatric’ problems died in padded cell after having to be restrained by prison officers"},"content":{"rendered":"

A major investigation has been launched after a volatile prisoner <\/a>ended up dead in a padded cell – minutes after being restrained by prison officers.<\/p>\n

Gardai, the Irish Prison Service<\/a> and the Office of the Inspector of Prisons have all launched separate investigations into the death of 46 year-old Wexford native Colm Connolly in the Midlands Prison<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Connolly, who had known psychiatric issues, was in prison for criminal damage, endangerment, dangerous driving, no licence and assault. On Wednesday he was declared dead in a padded close observation cell on the E1 landing of the prison – where he\u2019d been moved just moments earlier by prison officers – after a volatile exchange at another cell.<\/p>\n

Sources say prison officers<\/a> were alerted to Connolly\u2019s cell on the A2 landing – where he had been attacking his cell mates. Upon arrival he threw an item at officers, believed to contain urine, and refused to stand down.<\/p>\n

The alarm was raised and more prison officers came to assist as they attempted to tell Connolly to stop resisting. After repeated attempts prison officers used what are known as \u2018control and restraint\u2019 techniques to subdue the prisoner, sources say.<\/p>\n

It is understood Connolly was then walked under restraint from one side of the prison <\/a>to another, where he was placed in a padded cell. However when officers placed him on the ground, he was unresponsive- and a nurse was called.<\/p>\n

When the nurse arrived, it became apparent, sources say, that Connolly had passed away. Gardai and the Inspector of Prisons were alerted to the scene – and the cell was sealed off.<\/p>\n

\"An\"Colm<\/p>\n

Colm Connolly (46) from Wexford was declared dead in a padded cell in the Midlands Prison(Image: Paul Healy)<\/p>\n

Now three separate investigations have been launched over the serious incident. Sources say prison staff<\/a> are insistent that they used all appropriate measures to restrain Connolly – who allegedly attacked officers and would not comply with orders.<\/p>\n

He was walked to the padded cell having been successfully restrained when he suddenly became unresponsive, sources say.<\/p>\n

Gardai <\/a>will now await a postmortem examination in order to determine the course of the investigation.<\/p>\n

In a statement the Irish Prison Service said it could confirm a death in custody.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll deaths in custody are investigated by the Irish Prison Service, the Inspector of Prisons and An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, where circumstances warrant. The cause of death is determined by the Coroner\u2019s Office,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Irish Prison Service wish to express our condolences to the deceased\u2019s family and friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connolly, who a court heard had psychiatric problems, was jailed in December 2024 to three years with the final six months suspended over an incident in which he left two gardai injured and a trail of damaged vehicles.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Screengrab from a virtual tour of Midlands Prison<\/p>\n

PICTURED: The Circle<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Screengrab from a virtual tour of Midlands Prison<\/p>\n

PICTURED: Landing<\/p>\n

Connolly, of St Catherine\u2019s Estate, Murrintown, appeared before Wexford Circuit Court having pleaded guilty to a series of offences committed on January 23, 2022.<\/p>\n

The court heard that he was as punching a woman about her head inside a car – and that when she escaped the vehicle he took off in it.<\/p>\n

Connolly rammed a Garda patrol vehicle twice during his rampage around the Wexford area – before abandoning the car in a ditch.<\/p>\n

He eventually turned up three days later in Killag and was brought to the department of psychiatry in Waterford where he was discharged within a day.<\/p>\n

The court was told that a Garda <\/a>suffered some back pain as a result of the ramming and was out of work for a month.<\/p>\n

Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A major investigation has been launched after a volatile prisoner ended up dead in a padded cell –…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378570,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[45,54,42,11183,101737,43,40,38,41,39,9270],"class_list":{"0":"post-378569","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-an-garda-siochana","9":"tag-courts","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-irish-prison-service","12":"tag-midlands-prison","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-top-news","15":"tag-top-stories","16":"tag-topnews","17":"tag-topstories","18":"tag-wexford"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}