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CCTV FOOTAGE FROM Mountjoy Prison shows a prison officer being violently assaulted by prisoners with a brush handle.

The footage features in the third episode of TV3′s series on the prison, The Joy.

It shows a prisoner grabbing the handle of a brush from a cleaner who is sweeping the floor before attacking one of the prison officers.

Another inmate also gets involved by hitting an officer in the head with the brush handle.

Commenting on the incident while observing the altercation on CCTV footage, Chief Officer Niall Swift said: “He [the first prisoner] takes the brush off the cleaner on the landing and immediately goes at staff.

 It could have developed, it’s just that other prisoners didn’t get involved even though the first prisoner, that started the whole incident, was calling for other prisoners to get involved. It could have turned very nasty very quick.

The programme also shows blatant drug smuggling between an inmate and their visitor which is captured on CCTV.

Another person can also be seen throwing a parcel of drugs over the prison walls and into the yard, where it is lifted by a prisoner.

One officer looking at the scene on CCTV says the prisoner will most likely, “put [the drugs] up his rear passage. He’ll then take it out later on and distribute it.”

Staff in the Screening Area use everything from X-ray machines to sniffer dogs to try and stem the flow of narcotics into the prison.

The third episode of ‘The Joy’ airs on TV3 Monday night. 

Read: Footage shows brutal attack on inmate in Mountjoy Prison>

Read: Gangs, drugs and violence: Documentary looks into life in Mountjoy Prison>