Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Suicide inmate's mother warned prison

Suicide inmate's mother warned prison

Inquest hears staff were 'repeatedly' told of prisoner's deteriorating mental state

The mother of a prisoner who was found hanged in the segregation cell of a troubled privately run prison after being placed on suicide watch told an inquest yesterday how she repeatedly warned officers of her son's deteriorating mental state. The death of Michael Bailey, 23, at HMP Rye Hill near Rugby in Warwickshire led to the trial and subsequent acquittal of four serving prison officers. A damning inspectors' report in the month after his death found conditions at the jail to be "unsafe and unstable" for both inmates and staff.

In my view, Michael Bailey was displaying the classic symptoms of undergoing a mental breakdown. And, it would appear that rather than treat the inmate's condition the prison responded by trying to control him with discipline tools.

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