Patricia Lee recounted her horrifying experience of finding out about her son Keith’s death through social media reports before being officially informed, in her statement to Dublin District Coroner’s Court. Keith, who was 42 at the time of his death in 2018, had been detained in Mountjoy Prison while being implicated in the murder of his ex-wife, Joanne Lee.
Patricia Lee was on her way home from a medical appointment with her daughter Norma on the fateful day of the 12th of April when Norma received a distressing text from an overseas friend offering condolences for the suicide of Keith. They found out later that the mainstream media and television had reported his death at around 10.15 am, while police officers did not notify them until after 10.30 am.
Details emerged after his death that Joanne Lee, alternatively known as Joanne Ball, was found dead in a flat in Ranelagh in February 2018. She was discovered inside a sleeping bag in the wardroom of the flat from where Keith had jumped off the third-floor window, severely injuring himself, including multiple leg fractures. He proceeded to self-harm after the fall. Charges relating to Joanne’s murder were brought against Keith in March the same year.
The inquest also revealed details from Keith’s last moments in his prison cell. He was last seen alive by prison staff at 4.30 am and discovered dead in the cell’s wet room area shortly past 8 am. His family also reported that following his death, the media had published fragments from messages he’d left behind, causing further distress. The authorities claimed they had conducted checks during that time, believing he was asleep with his head concealed.
In a prison cell equipped for wheelchair users resided Mr Lee, however there was an unnoticed area through the viewing hole available to the officers, obstructing the view of his shower facilities, according to what was told to the court. Mr Lee’s family lawyer, Alison Fynes, stated that as a specially protected prisoner, officers should have made 48 welfare checks from 8pm to 8am in line with prison protocol, yet only half of these checks actually took place.
Paddy Moran, Mountjoy Prison’s incumbent assistant governor, who wasn’t serving in the prison during that period, expressed unequivocal disapproval of disclosure of case information to press by any individual involved. He admitted there were failures in the frequency of welfare checks and in the viewing hole’s blind spot but confirmed these have been rectified since. Mr Moran also stated that the prison staff aren’t permitted to carry phones and undergo security checks before starting their shifts. Prisoners, he suggested, do acquire banned phones and could have potentially spread rumours regarding Mr Lee’s demise.
In 2018, Ken Hoarne, then a detective sergeant at the Mountjoy Garda station, conceded there had been protocol violations with sensitive information being leaked before Mr Lee’s family had been notified of his death. However, he said there was no police probe into the violations as the family did not file an official complaint. The inquest further revealed that during a medical examination in March 2018, Mr Lee admitted to a lengthy history of polydrug misuse starting in his early teenage years but didn’t admit to any mental health issues.
A unanimous jury of seven confirmed the cause of death as suicide. Patricia Lee, post the proceedings remarked, “I’m pleased that after six and a half years we can finally mourn the loss and find closure”.