Virtual penitentiary

THE public are being granted never-before-seen access to one of the country's biggest prisons - in a virtual guided tour.

- BY PAUL HEALY Crime Correspondent

The Irish Prison Service have launched the incredible, immersive virtual tour of the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise - allowing anyone to peer behind bars and see up close the reality of jail life.

Infamous prisoners like murderer Graham Dwyer - who brutally killed childcare worker Elaine O'Hara, and wife-killer Joe O'Reilly, who murdered his wife Rachel, call the Midlands Prison home.

It also houses the likes of Jozef Puska who murdered Ashling Murphy in Tullamore, Co Offaly in January 2022 and rapist Michael Murray, known for his hoax bomb threats against the former Justice Minister.

The exact sights and sounds of jail life are seen and heard throughout the process as a digitally created prison officer gives the viewer an educated lowdown of what goes on in each room of the massive complex which is home to 890 prisoners.

The officer guides the viewer from outside the complex, showing an inmate being escorted into the prisoner reception, where lags are scanned and searched before entering.

In the reception area you can see a scanner - which boasts an oral cavity sensor, abdominal cavity sensor, rectal and vaginal cavity sensor as well as a shin and foot area sensor.