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Desmond Wilson |
Minicab driver’s killer found hanged days into life sentence
‘Two lives have been lost in this tragedy,’ says uncle as probe is launched
INVESTIGATORS are probing the death of a killer in a high-security prison three days after starting a life sentence for the murder of a minicab driver.
Prison officers found Desmond Wilson, 22, of McIndoe Court, Islington, hanged in his Belmarsh prison cell last Thursday morning.
Three days earlier an Old Bailey judge had sentenced him for the fatal stabbing of Mohamed Ali Maslah.
Mr Wilson’s uncle, Keith Edwards, 51, has criticised the prison service for leaving his nephew alone while in a “suicidal” state.
He said: “Something has gone horribly wrong and it needs looking at. People will say he was a criminal and he got what he deserves, but there is still a duty of care, especially for such a young lad who would have been very shaken up in difficult surroundings.
“After what had happened to him he would need looking after and he was definitely of the mindset where things would be playing on his mind.”
He added: “I have spoken to his mother at length, and our deepest sympathies go out to Mr Maslah’s family but two lives have been lost in this tragedy.”
In court, Mr Wilson admitted stabbing Mr Maslah, a father-of-five who worked as a driver for an Archway minicab firm to support his family in Gospel Oak.
Mr Wilson insisted the stabbing was in self-defence during an argument over a late-night fare while he was “wasted”.
Mr Wilson had called the minicab to take him to the home he shared with his girlfriend, Melissa Rose, on May 5.
Judge Anthony Morris, QC, told him: “I am satisfied that in carrying out your savage attack you intended to kill him.
“If you had not been carrying a knife he would still be alive.”
Mr Edwards, who lives in Crouch Hill, Stroud Green, said that his nephew was a quiet lad who adored watching Arsenal and spending time with his cousins. He would be greatly missed by his two younger brothers and younger sister.
The investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will focus on whether Mr Wilson was given the standard assessment of medical and behavioural needs on his arrival in prison, a check that is supposed to determine whether prisoners are at risk of harming themselves or others.
On Monday, a Ministry of Justice spokesman confirmed that Mr Wilson had been declared dead by doctors at 12.12pm last Thursday after prison officers found him at 11.30am.
He was unable to confirm exactly when Mr Wilson had arrived at Belmarsh, but added: “He was not identified as at risk of self-harm at the time of his death.”
The death is the second at the maximum-security prison in Woolwich this year and one of 77 self-inflicted deaths in prisons across England and Wales.
Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “The sobering truth is that, despite considerable efforts by the prison service, already this year the number of suicides in prison has exceeded the number for the whole of last year.
“Almost a third of suicides occur within the first week of someone arriving in custody. The government needs to act now.” |
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