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Suicide at Wakefield's New Hall prison: 'Staff lacked right training'
INEXPERIENCED staff at a Wakefield women's prison could not respond properly when an inmate hung herself from sink taps in her cell, a court heard.
Vicky Robinson, 26, who had a long history of self-harming, took her own life at New Hall Women's Prison, in Flockton, Wakefield.
But a jury ruled that, although her condition was unrecoverable, she was given inadequate emergency care following her death.
The deputy coroner in charge of her inquest said he would make recommendations to the governor of New Hall about staff training.
After listening to 10 days of evidence, the jury returned a narrative verdict which read: "Vicky Robinson's condition when she was found was unrecoverable in spite of the inadequate and insufficient care she received.
"It is the opinion of the jury that the staff involved did not provide adequate care to Vicky Robinson.
"The inexperience of staff involved through their lack of training resulted in them being unable to recognise an emergency situation and act upon it."
A report issued last week by the Howard League for Penal Reform showed there were 1,193 incidents of prisoners deliberately injuring themselves at the women's prison in 2007.
The number had dropped from 1,266 in 2006 but incidents of self-harm at the prison still remain in the top 10 highest in the country.
The inquest heard that Miss Robinson, who lived in Wakefield and was single, was on remand for making threats to kill and was found in her cell in on February 2, 2005 after using a length of towel to form a ligature.
She had attempted to take her own life on a number of previous occasions and had a history of self-harming.
The court heard that she would harm herself using a ligature in an effort to stop the voices in her head.
At the time of her death, she was on the prison's segregation unit at her own request and was on the prison self-harm/suicide monitoring procedure.
She was the fourth woman to kill herself at the prison in 10 months.
Deputy Coroner Kevin McLoughlin said his recommendations would state that prison staff watching over inmates who were a hanging risk "should be provided with thorough training with resuscitation techniques in order that they can respond properly and successfully to such situations."
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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