A VIOLENT criminal serving a lengthy sentence for slashing the faces of a man and a woman in separate blade attacks was hospitalised with three others after overdosing behind bars.
The Irish Sun has learned that thug Jonathan Cummins, 38, was one of the four men who fell gravely ill at Dublin’s Mountjoy Prison on Tuesday evening on the A3 landing after 5pm.
Prison chiefs are now rolling out an information campaign to warn prisoners of the dangers of drugs smuggled into the jail.
Health chiefs are also assisting, while the four men affected have been brought back to custody.
An Irish Prison Service spokesman said: “The Irish Prison Service is working closely with the HSE in response to a number of overdose presentations at the Mountjoy Prison which required hospitalisation on June 17, 2025.
“Extra vigilance is being taken across the prison, and an information campaign for prisoners around the dangers of consuming contraband has commenced.”
Cummins is serving a 16-year sentence after targeting a man and a woman with a knife in one of the busiest hubs in the capital on November 2, 2023.
On the day, he slashed a man across his face from mouth to ear while also attacking another woman and injuring her in Dublin’s north inner city.
He then walked up Moore Lane and pounced on a homeless woman in an unprovoked assault.
The woman – who has since passed away from unrelated causes – was also slit from her mouth to ear.
The Irish Prison Service says it is committed to preventing the access of contraband, including drugs into prisons and this continues to be a “high priority”, as they invest in new technologies and measures.
The spokesman added: “Prison staff have increased the use of random and intelligence led cell searches on a daily basis. The Irish Prison Service Operational Support Group work closely with their colleagues in An Garda Síochana, nationally and locally, on a regular basis and the sharing of intelligence has led to target searches resulting in the seizure of contraband.
‘GREATER FOCUS’
“Our Canine Unit carries out searches around the prisons, including a greater focus on searching deliveries into prisons.
“There is a free confidential telephone line (1800 855 717) and text line (086 180 2449) which is operational. Prisoners, visitors, staff or members of the public with information on the trafficking of prohibited items into our prisons can pass on that information in the strictest confidence.”
The IPS is also working together with the gardai as part of Operation Throwover in a bid to tackle organised crime gangs targeting prisons with drugs, weapons and phones.
While netting capable of withstanding fire-bombing – which saw packages set alight and dropped on the nets to burn through – are being rolled out across the system.
