Notorious gang boss ‘Fat’ Freddie Thompson whined to a court this week saying that he is being victimised by prison bosses, but he conveniently didn’t mention how he was nabbed with a mobile phone behind bars
The Sunday World can reveal that Thompson was caught with an contraband mobile phone by prison staff in Cloverhill on May 29.
He was lying on top of a Nokia handset when staff burst into his shared cell and carried out a search.
He pleaded innocence, even though he was caught red-handed. He was disciplined internally and denied visits, phone calls and recreation activities.
Thompson is said to have offered his cellmate €5,000 to take the blame for the illegal phone, which carries a sentence of up to five years in prison if charges are brought. It is understood a file is currently with the Director of Public Prosecutions.
As well as the incident with the mobile phone, jail bosses were very concerned that Thompson had established a power base at Cloverhill after being extradited from Spain to face a violent disorder charge.
Criminals were trying to impress him and a gang culture quickly began to emerge, with Freddie as the undisputed kingpin. In order to end this, management took the decision to transfer him from Cloverhill to Cork.
This is permitted because although Cloverhill is a remand prison, Thompson pleaded guilty to the violent disorder and was remanded until his sentencing next January.
The guilty plea meant it is up to prison management what jail he can be housed in. But Thompson was furious that he is now so far away from his family and this week went to the High Court to try to get the decision reversed.
He secured leave for a judicial review and his lawyers argued that he was actually the victim in an incident that led to his change of jails. The 33-year-old from Dublin 8, who is a member of the Christy Kinahan drugs mob, wants the decision to be quashed and also wants damages.
He said he was “violently attacked” by three other prisoners on September 13 even though they were ‘separation’ prisoners and should not have been in the visiting area where the alleged incident occurred.
After the “unprovoked assault”, Thompson said he was given a disciplinary hearing and found guilty. This was upheld on appeal.
He said that being segregated from other prisoners and confined to a cell for 22 and a half hours a day was unfair, as was the process, because he was not allowed to bring a witness to the hearing. Freddie was also furious that he only heard about the move in a national newspaper.
He was transferred to Cork on September 30 and remains there.
He says it is difficult for his family to travel down to visit him and he has a court date next month for a full hearing.
Sources say the Irish Prison Service will deny all his allegations and insist the transfer happened for safety reasons because Freddie was simply becoming too big to manage.
