Inquest following death of HMP Lewes prisoner
and live on Freeview channel 276
It follows an inquest into the death of a man in HMP Lewes who left a note for his partner saying: “I tried to get to talk to you but these lot here wouldn’t let me.”
Andrew Dean, 50, was found in his cell on March 26, 2021, having taken his own life two days after arriving at the prison. An inquest heard that on arrival he was allowed to make an initial “first night” call but did not manage to speak to anyone.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdOver the next 36 hours he asked prison staff to be allowed to try again, but was refused. At the same time his partner tried to get through to him via the prison switchboard but was unable to contact him.
In a Prevention of Future Deaths report sent to the prison and the Ministry of Justice Michael Spencer, assistant coroner for East Sussex, said: “I am concerned that there are no clearly defined processes to ensure that new prisoners can successfully make first contact with family members (when this does not take place on the first night) and for logging and handling incoming calls to the central switchboard from family members with concerns about a prisoner’s safety and/ or requesting a welfare check.”
Mr Spencer added: “Following the inquest I gave the Ministry of Justice an opportunity to address these concerns by providing further evidence of any new procedures that have been out in place since Andrew Dean’s death, but they declined. In my view, these are matters that require further consideration by the Ministry of Justice and HMP Lewes to avoid a risk of future deaths through self-harm or suicide.”
The Ministry and prison have until July 31 to respond, either by explaining what steps have been taken or spelling out why no further action is considered necessary.