Prisoner rushed to A&E after drug search struggle

Con hit head after 'fighting officers'

- BY PAUL HEALY Crime Correspondent

A LIFELONG criminal, convicted of falsely imprisoning a man who became the victim of an infamous gangland murder, has been hospital-ised after hitting his head amid a prison drugs search.

This paper has learned that serial offender Jeremy Cooper, 58, who was previously involved in the kidnapping of a drug dealer who was tortured and killed in the 1990s, was rushed to A&E after he whacked his head after he fought with prison officers during a contraband search in Dublin's Wheat-field Prison on Tuesday.

The shocking incident took place after officers searched Cooper's cell and found a suspected quantity of illegal tablets.

Sources have confirmed that gardai have since been notified of the drugs seizure while Cooper remains in hospital.

Cooper, who has been in and out of prison, was jailed in 2023 after he was caught dealing sleeping tablets.