Prisons must learn from our Simon’s cell suicide (From Gazette)

Colchester News

Prisons must learn from our Simon’s cell suicide

5:00pm Thursday 16th June 2011

THE family of a Colchester man who hanged himself in a cell say they hope the prison service has learnt from its mistakes.

Simon Gregory, 36, of Sycamore Road, took his own life at Chelmsford Prison days after he was arrested for allegedly stealing clothes from Gap, in Culver Street, Colchester.

The father-of-four had cut his wrists, repeatedly asked to speak to the Samaritans and told cellmates and prison staff he was suicidal.

An inquest jury found failings in care, support and equipment, and staff shortages, had contributed to his death.

Mr Gregory had been in prison for three days when he was found dead on November 27, 2007.

The jury heard Mr Gregory was assessed and identified as a suicide risk and his family had raised serious concerns about whether the prison was looking after him properly.

On the night of his death, one prison officer was responsible for 126 prisioners on E wing, having already worked all day.

The inquest heard there was no handover and the officer had no time to read the comments in Mr Gregory’s record, which said he was desperate and in need of support.

It also found there was a lack of essential equipment to deal with a medical emergency.

A prison nurse said no defibrillator was taken to Mr Gregory’s cell when he was found hanging because it was cumbersome, old and did not work very well.

Katrina White, 25, Mr Gregory’s sister, from Derbyshire, said his family had found some solace in the inquest’s verdict. She said: “Simon was a kind and loving father, son and brother.

“Simon’s death, which we firmly believe could have been avoided, has left a big hole in our lives.

“I hope this will encourage HMP Chelmsford and others caring for vulnerable people in custody to improve the care provided to prisoners like Simon.”

Mr Gregory had lived in Derbyshire and Ipswich before moving to Colchester.

Kat Craig, solicitor for the family, said: “Mr Gregory’s death is a tragic example of a failure on behalf of the prison to adequately intervene and respond to an acute need for support and care.

“The jury’s findings on this point are a firm indication that more should have been done, and that the prison was ill-equipped and under-resourced to deal with vulnerable prisoners.”

A spokesman for the National Offender Management Service said: “The service will consider the inquest findings to see what lessons can be learnt in addition to those already learnt from the investigation conducted by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.”

The inquest jury at Chelmsford returned a verdict of suicide on Tuesday.

It said the suicide was in part because of a failure to recognise the risk to the prisoner through inappropriate care and support, inadequate staffing levels and lack of essential medical emergency equipment.

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Comments(29)

donttalkdo says...
5:30pm Thu 16 Jun 11

Why are we still putting people with Mental Health issues into prison.
One they are taking the place of a real criminal.
Secondly the warders in a prison have a hard enough job to do without trying to be mental health workers.
Third why dont prisons have a ward where all suicidal prisoners can be taken and kept an eye on.

6079 Smith W says...
6:33pm Thu 16 Jun 11

DTD - According to the Mental Health Foundation 70% of prisoners have two or more mental health disorders, so it is regrettably very commonplace.
The same organisation tells us that prisoners are 15 times more likely to commit suicide than the general population. The figures have always been shocking, lessons are never learnt, so regrettably Mr Gregory's family are neither the first nor the last to suffer such a tragedy. Contrary to the family's wishes I can only see this getting much worse as the cuts bite. And unlike other concerns such as the NHS, the mental health of prisoners will never be a popular cause.

donttalkdo says...
9:22pm Thu 16 Jun 11

I do not know where you got those figures from !!!!
And who is the Mental Health Foundation? I work in this field and have never heard of them.
Anyway fact our Mental Health Trust does not run the service at local prisons, perhaps that is why this situation has arisen, because if the Mental Heath Trust was running the service they know what they are doing. As far as i know it is being run by a non Mental Health Organisation.
i.e. Govenment has gone for cheap instead of expertize.

6079 Smith W says...
6:27am Fri 17 Jun 11

You have the internet - why not find out? Talk about lazy!

donttalkdo says...
7:02am Fri 17 Jun 11

No need to be rude !!
I do not need to look at the internet not everything that is posted there is true. But give me the site of Mental Health Foundation I would be interested.
I get my facts from source.

6079 Smith W says...
7:27am Fri 17 Jun 11

You question and then dismiss as to where I get my figures from - even though I've already told you - and accuse me of being rude! Come on DTD, you can do better than this. As you're seemingly incapable of operating google - http://www.mentalhea
lth.org.uk/ And I'll even give you the wiki entry as well - http://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Mental_Heal
th_Foundation Please! I do despair sometimes...

ShallowRemarks says...
8:00am Fri 17 Jun 11

I think common sense would tell you that prisoners are not normal well adjusted people hence why they are in prison in the first place not unless your idea of normal is to be a criminal that is. What surprises me is that if 6079 Smith W is correct with his findings ( I can't be bothered to investigate), that it is low as 70%.

donttalkdo says...
10:18am Fri 17 Jun 11

Right Mr Smith, I am not lazy I am perfectly able to operate google.
I have now looked at the site that you are refering to this is a charity who i am sure are very good in what they do mainly learning disabilities. I am sure they beleive in what they have printed on there. But it is their opinion satistics can be read many ways and that is what they are doing. They are working on reports from the Trust, and even though I work with them I have had many discussions on their readings on the statistics and mine. The Trust want to make them to sound the best, groups like to pick certain parts out and put their slant on them as the want you to donate you hard earned money to keep them employed.
What I state is facts from what is as near to the truth as possible.
If you want to give away your money then give it to groups who are trying to make individuals lives better.
Shallow Remarks to a certain extent i would agree with you. There are some people in prison who have reconised Mental Health problems, they shoplift to get food, even though they have money to pay. They wander the streets as they are confused, they get attacked verbally or physically and cannot control their actions and many other situations. This countrys answer is to stick them in prison. I agree if they have broke the law they should be punished but they need treatment and care. There is a section of the Mental Health act that deals with this. The sentance is handed down, this Section means the person will be taken to a secure location for treatment, if they become well enough before the end of their sentance they are returned to prison, if not they stay under section until they can be discarged into the community. Problem is, their condision has to be reconized and actioned, not enough secure units, for long term illness they can stay in secure accomidation for far too long as they only get one appeal a year.
I can also tell you that life in a secure unit is worse than many prisons.

Right Mr Smith, I am not lazy I am perfectly able to operate google. I have now looked at the site that you are refering to this is a charity who i am sure are very good in what they do mainly learning disabilities. I am sure they beleive in what they have printed on there. But it is their opinion satistics can be read many ways and that is what they are doing. They are working on reports from the Trust, and even though I work with them I have had many discussions on their readings on the statistics and mine. The Trust want to make them to sound the best, groups like to pick certain parts out and put their slant on them as the want you to donate you hard earned money to keep them employed. What I state is facts from what is as near to the truth as possible. If you want to give away your money then give it to groups who are trying to make individuals lives better. Shallow Remarks to a certain extent i would agree with you. There are some people in prison who have reconised Mental Health problems, they shoplift to get food, even though they have money to pay. They wander the streets as they are confused, they get attacked verbally or physically and cannot control their actions and many other situations. This countrys answer is to stick them in prison. I agree if they have broke the law they should be punished but they need treatment and care. There is a section of the Mental Health act that deals with this. The sentance is handed down, this Section means the person will be taken to a secure location for treatment, if they become well enough before the end of their sentance they are returned to prison, if not they stay under section until they can be discarged into the community. Problem is, their condision has to be reconized and actioned, not enough secure units, for long term illness they can stay in secure accomidation for far too long as they only get one appeal a year. I can also tell you that life in a secure unit is worse than many prisons. donttalkdo

ShallowRemarks says...
4:02pm Fri 17 Jun 11

Maybe Prison should learn by this, but at the same time I think families should learn too, is there someone in you're family on that slippery slope and what are you doing about it F**k all I can imagine, go on Gazette I dare you to keep this post up all weekend.

donttalkdo says...
4:47pm Fri 17 Jun 11

Iam glad you said it not me. But be aware a member of his family might read this and I think they have suffered enough. Although I work with the trust for various reasons people with mental health issues do not get or ask for help, this could be that society will treat them as third class citerzens. The trust can not be perfect every time and get the treatment right the first time and usally by the time they get refered to the trust they are seriously ill. If only it could be seen as just another illness.

6079 Smith W says...
5:29pm Fri 17 Jun 11

SR - I think what you missed with the statistic from the MHF is 70% diagnosed with at least TWO disorders. I'm sure you're right, the figure for at least one disorder among prisoners is much higher. How anybody has managed to go through life and actually fail to realise that the vast majority of prisoners suffer from mental illness is totally beyond me, and even then when presented with the evidence arrogantly dismisses it.

ShallowRemarks says...
5:36pm Fri 17 Jun 11

I hope they are reading this.They might think they have suffered enough but they are still walking around.

6079 Smith W says...
6:49pm Fri 17 Jun 11

Despite our disagreement the other day, SR, I must say I normally appreciate (though not necessarily agree) with your comments, but here you've lost me?

ShallowRemarks says...
8:11pm Fri 17 Jun 11

Well the point is 6079 if the family did not see their loved one on the decline how could the prison service see it and if they did they could have done something about it,( the family that is) we hear all the time that the criminal is put before the victim and trust me it is the case. A few years ago my 12 year daughter was sexually abused by my brother and when then were about to arrest him the Police asked me has my brother attempted to take his own life and I unwittingly said yes, they told me because they didn't have the staff to keep an eye on him they would not be arresting him at that stage giving him time to conduct himself (that's another story ) Now I know Mr Gregory was not convicted of a sexual offence but the point is that our Police and prison staff look after our criminals very well (My brother got away with his offence thanks to that and admitted to me years later that he had done it) As far as I can see it Mr Gregory's family could have stepped in and made sure he was Ok.

Boris says...
11:05pm Fri 17 Jun 11

"On the night of his death, one prison officer was responsible for 126 prisioners on E wing, having already worked all day.
The inquest heard there was no handover and the officer had no time to read the comments in Mr Gregory’s record, which said he was desperate and in need of support.
It also found there was a lack of essential equipment to deal with a medical emergency.
A prison nurse said no defibrillator was taken to Mr Gregory’s cell when he was found hanging because it was cumbersome, old and did not work very well."
.
If that is the way Chelmsford prison is run, no wonder there is a suicide there on average every two months.
And, when violent people are allowed bail, what was the point of putting a suspected shoplifter in prison?

donttalkdo says...
7:50am Sat 18 Jun 11

Another wasted thread. Isn't it funny that the gang of free beleive that their facts are always right and everyone elses are wrong, even when it is explained that they are quoting from an unreliable source. I never said the figures were wrong I just said get them from source not from someones opinion which they are using to get money. I am slowly giving up on commenting because of the constant rudeness which they use as they cannot answer the points. So i will leave it to you.

6079 Smith W says...
9:28am Sat 18 Jun 11

DTD - Please, as ever, you were the first person to be rude here. Go back to your second comment and the arrogance and pomposity you used to dismiss my use of MHF figures. Your following comment continued in the same vein, even if your tone changed from hostile dismissal to patronising dismissal, and contained the extraordinary suggestion that your own figures are somehow more reliable than reports compiled by eminent academics?! And now once again like the spoilt little kid you're saying, 'it's my ball, and I'm not playing.' It's a simple playground lesson you've failed to learn. 'If you can't take it, don't dish it out.'

6079 Smith W says...
9:43am Sat 18 Jun 11

SR - Thank you for your explanation. I have never, ever on here thought so long and hard about a response, I normally consider this website a bit of brain exercise, firing off quick responses. But I would be wrong to deal with your harrowing testament in this way, which is also a da*ning indictment of the criminal justice system. All I would ask you is this, in relation to this story, can we really say that the 'victim' (quite likely a multinational company), has really come second to a 'criminal', who's been placed in an institution which (as Boris has explained very well) routinely fails vulnerable people?

6079 Smith W says...
9:57am Sat 18 Jun 11

And SR, may I apologise for comments I made about dogs the other day. Just because dogs are not my cup of tea, I should be practicing what I preach about tolerance.

donttalkdo says...
10:56am Sat 18 Jun 11

W Smith as I have explained more than once who your scource is It is not eminent academics it is a charity who is looking for your money.
It is not a case of throwing my ball out of the pram I would listen to you more if your facts came from scource.
I spend all day every day of my life working to improve the lives of people with mental health illness, I admit I cannot help everybody but i can work at changing the view of Mental Health.
If I did not know the facts for this area I would be unable to do my work. My figures are reliable as they come from the highest level as I work with them on a daily basis, I also ask them to quatify and prove there figures. I see them before they are made public then you can look at them on the internet.
Also nowhere have i quoted figures which i could not prove. Yet again you do not want to reconise the truth on a subject you know nothing about. My concern is only to make people aware that mental illness is just that a illness.
A illness that people suffer from in silence because if they admit to have it they will be treated like dirt. I am quiet perpared to take it as you so nicely put it if the other person has a qualified point.

6079 Smith W says...
2:31pm Sat 18 Jun 11

You have not quoted any stats, but have though suggested you have your own figures. Reference them in an academic essay and you will fail the paper. And who do you think compiles reports for MHF? If you care to note they work with academics at Imperial College London, University College London and Kings College London. Great that you know better, what a mind you have! Sorry, I couldn't care less where you work, it remains extraordinary that you've failed to recognise that the vast majority of prisoners have mental health issues. Didn't think you were coming back anyway? Yet another inconsistency.

donttalkdo says...
3:09pm Sat 18 Jun 11

Get your facts right I have never said that i did not recognise that a great number of prisioners have mental health issues, same as there are a great number of people in the community who have mental health issues. I bow to your talent as a wordsmith and your razor wit, but at the end of the day you are more concerned about scoring points against people rather than commenting on the story in the question. I only comment on things i know about you just seem to to comment on everything what a boreing life you must have. I will not be repling again as i have better things to do in my life

6079 Smith W says...
3:30pm Sat 18 Jun 11

Really? You've told us that once already. And everybody can see the way you poo pooed the link between prisoners and mental health, and your apparent surprise that somebody with mental health issues ended up inside. Still, I'm glad you're now waking up to these harsh realities.
Anyway, I will miss all your arrogance, pomposity, playground attempts at rudeness and hypocrisy. It was fun!

ShallowRemarks says...
7:52pm Sat 18 Jun 11

6079 Smith W wrote:
And SR, may I apologise for comments I made about dogs the other day. Just because dogs are not my cup of tea, I should be practicing what I preach about tolerance.

To be honest I have great respect for you
6079 Smith W, So apology accepted.

6079 Smith W says...
8:50pm Sat 18 Jun 11

Thank you, SR, the respect is mutual. Just seen your comment about breastfeeding, which is exactly the sort of reason I appreciate your comments.

jut1972 says...
11:39pm Sat 18 Jun 11

ShallowRemarks wrote:
Well the point is 6079 if the family did not see their loved one on the decline how could the prison service see it and if they did they could have done something about it,( the family that is) we hear all the time that the criminal is put before the victim and trust me it is the case. A few years ago my 12 year daughter was sexually abused by my brother and when then were about to arrest him the Police asked me has my brother attempted to take his own life and I unwittingly said yes, they told me because they didn't have the staff to keep an eye on him they would not be arresting him at that stage giving him time to conduct himself (that's another story ) Now I know Mr Gregory was not convicted of a sexual offence but the point is that our Police and prison staff look after our criminals very well (My brother got away with his offence thanks to that and admitted to me years later that he had done it) As far as I can see it Mr Gregory's family could have stepped in and made sure he was Ok.

Good god. All of you, read this again. Stop your petty **** point scoring.

SR - respect sounds contrite but is the most accurate phrase I can think of.

ShallowRemarks says...
8:46am Sun 19 Jun 11

jut1972 wrote:

ShallowRemarks wrote:
Well the point is 6079 if the family did not see their loved one on the decline how could the prison service see it and if they did they could have done something about it,( the family that is) we hear all the time that the criminal is put before the victim and trust me it is the case. A few years ago my 12 year daughter was sexually abused by my brother and when then were about to arrest him the Police asked me has my brother attempted to take his own life and I unwittingly said yes, they told me because they didn't have the staff to keep an eye on him they would not be arresting him at that stage giving him time to conduct himself (that's another story ) Now I know Mr Gregory was not convicted of a sexual offence but the point is that our Police and prison staff look after our criminals very well (My brother got away with his offence thanks to that and admitted to me years later that he had done it) As far as I can see it Mr Gregory's family could have stepped in and made sure he was Ok.
Good god. All of you, read this again. Stop your petty **** point scoring.

SR - respect sounds contrite but is the most accurate phrase I can think of.

jut1972 .I wondered when you would rear you ugly head.

6079 Smith W says...
10:41am Sun 19 Jun 11

Jut, have we caught you in a bad mood? Not trying to point score, are you?

Cynic2009 says...
11:17pm Mon 20 Jun 11

Can someone explain to me the link between criminality and mental health. I can see how social conditioning etc can make you more likely to commit crime but those factors are far different from "mental health." Surely to say most criminals have mental health problems is a massive slur to the vast majority of people with mental health issues who are entirely law abiding. Anyway, lets not forget the tragedy here, a young man dead. RIP. As for staffing levels at the prison, where did all Labour's money go huh.

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Prisons must learn from our Simon’s cell suicide

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