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Pentonville prison |
Inquest into prisoners found hanged in Pentonville
Coroner hears evidence in prisoners’ deaths inquests
TWO prisoners held in special cells at Pentonville prison were found hanged within months of each other, separate inquests heard this week.
St Pancras Coroner’s Court heard that Sky Sansom and Darren Edwards both died in their cells in the D Wing of the Caledonian Road prison within 10 months of each other.
On Tuesday a coroner accepted a jury’s ruling that Fiji-born Mr Sansom, 25, took his own life but stopped short of finding any fault with the way inmates’ mental health is assessed at the prison.
Since Mr Sansom’s death changes have been made to the monitoring system.
The verdict into Mr Edwards’ death is expected today (Friday).
Mr Sansom, 25, who killed himself in June 2007, had been taken off the “at-risk” register two months before his death.
Prison officers defended their decision to take Mr Sansom off the monitoring scheme and told the court he seemed happy and communicative.
Mr Sansom, from Ponders End, Enfield, hanged himself from a sheet two months after he was sentenced to life behind bars.
Although reference was made to the serious nature of his crime and his lengthy sentence, it was not revealed at St Pancras that he was jailed for raping a teenager two years ago.
The jury heard how Mr Sansom was assessed by a prison officer the day after his sentencing but was taken off the “at risk” register 24 hours later by a different prison officer who had never met him before and had “informal” training in assessing whether a prisoner was a risk to themselves.
The first officer to assess Mr Sansom as part of the prison’s care plan, known as Assessment, Care in Custody, and Teamwork (ACCT), had one days’ training.
The prison officers’ limited training in judging a prisoners’ mental state were revealed after the Sansom family’s barrister, Caroline Hallissey, quizzed them about their qualifications.
Senior officer Myrtle Augee, who took Mr Sansom off the register, said she took the decision after judging him to be “quite happy”.
She added: “I didn’t have any problems with Mr Sansom. He communicated with me quite well. He was dismissive of the ACCT and couldn’t understand why he was on it.”
She said prisoners didn’t like being on the monitoring scheme because it ruined their sleep; every hour during the day and night a guard would check on them and turn on the lights after dark.
Pentonville has since introduced a “post-closure interview”, effectively a chance to ensure taking a prisoner off the at-risk register is the right decision.
Coroner Dr Andrew Reid said he was “not persuaded to make any fixed formal recommendations” but endorsed changes outlined in a Prison and Probation Service report.
Mr Edwards, who was also found hanged in his D-wing cell in April this year, was on an ACCT when he died. Senior prison officer Richard Parker was commended by the coroner for his efforts to save him.
The month before his death, Mr Edwards had been seen making a ligature from sheets in his cell. Prison staff nurse Michelle Mellamphy told the court: “He was crying, he was emotional, he was shaking. He kept replying ‘I can’t take it anymore, I need to end it’.”
The inquest continues. |
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