Bereaved families bring case against government over prisoner suicides

Relatives of prisoners at HMP Woodhill who have taken their own lives are to bring a legal challenge against the institution’s governor and the justice secretary for allegedly failing to introduce basic safety measures. Eighteen prisoners have killed themselves at the jail in Milton Keynes since early 2013 despite repeated recommendations and guidance from coroners’ reports and official bodies that investigate deaths in custody.

The most recent death at Woodhill was before Christmas, shortly after the high court granted permission for the case to be heard. Deaths in custody reached a record high in England and Wales last year. In 2016, there were 119 self-inflicted deaths; the previous year there were 89.

The action has been brought by Pearl Scarfe and Julie Barber, the mother and sister of Ian Brown, who took his life in his cell in Woodhill on 19 July 2015, and Jamie Blyde, the brother of Daniel Dunkley, who died on 2 August 2016, four days after he was found hanging in his cell.

The families are seeking to persuade the court to order that the governor of Woodhill prison and the justice secretary, Liz Truss, take urgent action to reduce the risk of self-inflicted deaths in the future. Woodhill had the highest suicide rate of any prison in 2016; seven prisoners killed themselves there last year.

Barber said: “Ian was much loved. Our loss has been unimaginable. We all miss him every day. I believe if he’d had the help and support he needed he’d still be here. Every time I hear about another death in the prison, I think: ‘Why?’

“If lessons had been learned when my brother died, all those families would not have had to go through what we have had to go through. It’s hard for us to hear about more deaths. It makes me angry that suicides have happened that could have been prevented if changes had been put in place, as they should have been.”

The judicial review, to be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, is being supported by Inquest, the organisation that helps relatives at coroners’ courts. Inquest says it is concerned about the lack of a national oversight mechanism to monitor, audit and follow up actions taken in response to recommendations by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman and coroners.

Deborah Coles, the director of Inquest, said: “The number of self-inflicted deaths occurring in prisons in England and Wales is currently at record levels. It is therefore more vital than ever that preventative actions are identified, changes implemented, and sustained improvements enforced to prevent future deaths.

“The current system for learning lessons and implementing changes arising from deaths in custody is not fit for purpose; it does not adequately prevent future deaths, meet the hopes and needs of bereaved families, or satisfy the wider public interest.

“The deplorable situation at HMP Woodhill is just one stark example of a much wider national problem. Deaths occur time and again as a result of repeated failings. Families are told that lessons will be learned, but nothing changes. The reality is that the Ministry of Justice has wholly failed to address the unacceptable rise in self-inflicted deaths.”

Jo Eggleton, a solicitor at the law firm Deighton Pierce Glynn, who represents the families of Brown and Dunkley, said: “[They] have shown great strength in bringing this claim. Despite the awful ordeal they have been through, they have put themselves on the line to try and protect others and prevent future deaths.

“They and the other families of men who have died at Woodhill that I represent share this common goal and have worked together to try and make it possible. They should be recognised and applauded for that. It’s just a shame that this claim has had to be brought at all.”

In a letter to Truss last week, the Labour MP Harriet Harman, the chair of parliament’s joint committee on human rights, called for a national oversight mechanism “with a duty to collate, analyse and monitor learning outcomes and their implementation arising out of deaths in prisons”.

In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14.

Bereaved families bring case against government over prisoner suicides

Jail staff lacked compassion for prisoner who took his life, inquest finds

An inquest jury has said a prisoner who took his own life was not shown enough compassion by staff at the jail.

The jury at Suffolk coroner’s court found that David Smith, 38, killed himself at Highpoint prison in Newmarket, Suffolk, in May 2014. He was serving three and a half years for drug offences.

The jury heard that Smith was transferred from Chelmsford prison to Highpoint on 23 May 2014. On arrival, he asked to speak to a listener – prisoners trained by the Samaritans – but none were available.

He asked to call the Samaritans helpline, but the phone in the induction unit was missing. Smith attempted to hang himself that evening and died in hospital the following day. He had a history of depression and self-harm. His was the third of four self-inflicted deaths at Highpoint in 18 months.

The jury was told that staff failed to activate the prison’s emergency code system, which would have triggered an automatic call for an ambulance. The driver of the ambulance that eventually responded said it took him 12 minutes to reach the cell after he arrived at the prison. He said the prison officer who guided him “ambled along” in front of his vehicle.

The jury found Highpoint’s failings included: lack of compassion for prisoners, lack of training of officers, insufficient staff on duty, failure to check logbooks, failure to earlier open a suicide and self-harm procedure and then implement that procedure.

Smith’s parents, Julie and Tony, said their son should still be alive: “David was calling for help, but no one helped him. If they had done their jobs properly he would still be here today.”

Deborah Coles, director of Inquest, said the jury’s findings encapsulated the crisis within the prison system.

“HMP Highpoint is not learning from its own failures, or improving the care and support provided to prisoners. The failures identified by this inquest must be responded to by the prisons minister, Sam Gyimah,” she said.

Sara Lomri, of Bindmans solicitors, who represented the family, said this was the third of four linked inquests arising from the deaths of four young men at Highpoint.

“It is vital that lessons are learned by the management of the prison and steps taken to ensure that the failings identified, by this and the other three inquests, are comprehensively addressed to ensure further deaths are avoided,” she said.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “Our sympathies are with David Smith’s family and friends. We have already taken action and accepted all the recommendations following the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman’s investigation. We will now carefully consider the inquest findings to help ensure such incidents are not repeated.

“Safety in prisons is fundamental to the proper functioning of our justice system and a vital part of our reform plans.”

• In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. Hotlines in other countries can be found here.

Jail staff lacked compassion for prisoner who took his life, inquest finds

Vulnerable people "being stored prisoner in care homes"

Tens of thousands of the most vulnerable sufferers are successfully getting kept prisoner in care homes and hospitals by way of misuse of mental wellness laws, a damning House of Lords investigation has located.

In the worst instances, safeguards aimed at safeguarding individuals with a variety of situations are currently being used to oppress people and force choices on them, peers mentioned.

They located measures supposed to be utilized to search following at-chance patients – such as people with dementia who may possibly get lost if they left their care residence – had been currently being employed on a significant scale to deprive them wrongly of their liberty.

The Home of Lords committee set up to investigate how mental well being reforms launched in 2005 are doing work mentioned it was so concerned about deprivation of liberty safeguards that they should be scrapped and a new program drawn up from scratch.

The committee chairman, Lord Hardie, mentioned: “We have been really concerned by what we heard about the safeguards. The proof suggests that tens of 1000′s of people are becoming deprived of their liberty with out the protection of the law, and without the protection that parliament intended.

“Worse nevertheless, in some situations the safeguards are getting wilfully used to oppress men and women and to force decisions on them, irrespective of what actions may possibly be in their best interests.

“The criticism of the safeguards extended to the legislative provisions themselves we have been informed the provisions were poorly drafted, overly complex and bureaucratic. A senior judge described the encounter of making an attempt to create a judgment on the safeguards as feeling ‘as if you have been in a washing machine and spin dryer’. Even if implementation could be enhanced, the legislation itself is flawed.

“In the face of such criticism, the only selection is to start again. The government needs to go back to the drawing board to draft substitute provisions that are simple to comprehend and put into action, and in keeping with the design and ethos of the Psychological Capability Act.”

The report highlights the case of Steven Neary, a guy in his early 20s with autism and a serious learning disability, whose father asked Hillingdon council to supply some short-term respite care.

It explained employees had identified Neary’s behaviour really challenging and were concerned about his return residence, so it was agreed that he would keep in care for a couple of weeks.

The report adds: “In reality, the council had previously made the decision that Neary must not be permitted to return property and stored him at the facility for practically a 12 months, like a period when he was topic to the deprivation of liberty safeguards.

In the course of this time strategies had been produced to send Neary to live permanently at a facility in Wales. The court of protection held that Neary had been unlawfully detained and ordered that he have to return house to live with his father.”

The safeguards are portion of the wider Mental Capability Act, drawn up to simplify how sufferers who lack capability are dealt with and to “empower, protect and support” them.

Peers discovered there had been patchy takeup of the measures it consists of and known as for the creation of a single independent organisation to get accountability for implementation.

Lord Hardie explained: “When the act came into currently being, it was witnessed as a visionary piece of legislation, which marked a turning level in the rights of vulnerable folks those with understanding issues, dementia, brain injuries or temporary impairment. The committee is unanimous that this is essential legislation, with the prospective to transform lives.

“Nevertheless, what is clear from the considerable volume of evidence we have obtained is that the act is not doing work at all well. That is simply because people do not know about the act, or do not comprehend it, even however several specialists have legal obligations underneath it. Those who could lack capability have legal rights underneath the act, but they are not currently being fulfilled. In numerous circumstances complying with the act is taken care of like an optional add-on – nice to have, but not important. In brief, the act is not currently being implemented.

“The committee believes that the act is excellent and it demands to be implemented. What we want to see is a change in attitudes and practice across the wellness and social care sector which reflects the empowering ethos of the act.”

Vulnerable people "being stored prisoner in care homes"