A 34-year-old man who was attacked by a group of other prisoners in Mountjoy Prison has died.
Robert O’Connor was attacked in his cell on Friday evening and sustained serious head injuries.
He was taken to the Mater Hospital, where he was in intensive care but passed away overnight.
Gardaí suspect the attack was ordered by a criminal outside the prison.
The victim was sent to Mountjoy just two days before the attack, after he was sentenced to six and a half years in prison.
He pleaded guilty after he was caught with a loaded semi-automatic pistol and a magazine with three more rounds in Dublin last year.
A threat assessment was carried out in Mountjoy and he was initially moved from one part of the prison to another after an issue arose.
However, prison sources said the man expressed no fears for his safety and was not put in protective custody.
Detectives believe the attack was ordered from outside the prison either because of the inmate’s drug debt or because of the foiled gun attack for which he was jailed.
