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 hospitalised 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 Wheatfield 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.