Blinded prisoner Sean Lynch rejects prison boss’s apology
A DERRY MAN man, who blinded himself in prison, has rejected an apology from the head of the Prison Service for the way jail staff treated him.
Yesterday, Sue McAllister said “sorry” at a Stormont committee meeting for what happened to him in Maghaberry prison
Sean Lynch said today: “I would not like to meet Sue McAllister.
“And if she was to meet me with a handshake, I would turn my back on her.”
His father, Damien Lynch, added that he would not accept her apology without disciplinary action.
“Why did it take her four weeks to give an apology?,” Mr Lynch asked.
“She apologised in front of a justice committee but she couldn’t apologise to us, so I don’t really accept it.
“Unless there’s some kind of disciplinary action taken, it’s not an apology,” he said.
CCTV cameras at Maghaberry prison showed Sean Lynch shouting and crying in pain and banging his cell door, but the officers did not try to stop him.
He used his fingers and thumbs to damage his eyes, and claimed to have used a piece of broken glass to injure his groin.
“I am sorry for the life-changing injuries that Mr Lynch sustained whilst in our care,” said Mrs McAllister on Thursday
She said the days leading up to Mr Lynch’s “most serious incident of self-harm” were “hugely challenging for everyone – for our officers, our healthcare colleagues, Mr Lynch’s family and of course Mr Lynch himself”.
Previously Mrs McAllister said it was the most extreme case of self-harming she had experienced in 30 years working in prisons.
She said it was a “shocking and tragic case” but that “it was not possible to say what staff could or should have done” in this “unprecedented incident”.
Damien Lynch said he and his family are still searching for answers for the treatment his son received in prison.
“Sean went into prison a healthy man and came out blind, so they failed in their duty of care to look after him,” he said.
“The new Justice Minister, Claire Sugden, should demand proper accountability from the prison service to ensure no other family has to suffer the ordeal we’ve had to cope with.
“It’s immaterial to me if I meet Sue McAllister, Sean is the main issue and no matter what happens he’s been sentenced to a life of darkness,” he added.
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