Leeds prison staff criticised for handcuffing inmate on his cancer deathbed
Prison staff have been criticised for keeping an inmate in handcuffs just days before he died from cancer.
Jeffrey Earp was serving more than 14 years for a sickening robbery on an 88-year-old woman in her own home.
Locked up in 2018, he was serving his sentence at HMP Wealstun at Wetherby. He died in January this year, just three weeks after he was diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer.
But a report published this week into his death by the Prison & Probations Ombudsman (PPO) condemned the decision to keep him in handcuffs despite Earp being on his deathbed.
They were only removed two days before he died, despite earlier requests by hospital staff. Earp, 57, had complained about the restraints throughout his time in hospital.
It was recorded that Earp had become angry and agitated about the cuffs several times during his three weeks in hospital. An application for early release on compassionate grounds was also lodged.
A doctor asked for the cuffs to be removed three days before his death but it was refused on the grounds of “public protection concern”. It was noted that the duty governor was concerned due to an “historic” attack on staff and an incident days earlier.
The restraints were finally removed around 5pm on December 31 after hospital staff said his deteriorating condition “reduced his ability to leave the ward”. He died at 6.25pm on January 2.
The report reads: “The Prison Service has a duty to protect the public when escorting prisoners outside prison, such as to hospital. It has a responsibility to balance this by treating prisoners with humanity.
“A judgment in the High Court in 2007 made it clear that prison staff need to distinguish between a prisoner’s risk of escape when fit (and the risk to the public in the event of an escape) and the prisoner’s risk when he has a serious medical condition.
“Following Mr Earp’s admission to hospital, there were a number of occasions when bed watch staff contacted the prison about restraints issues.
“This included that Mr Earp had complained of pain and officers and nursing staff saw bruising and later a sore which had developed because of the rubbing caused by the cuff.”
The PPO concluded that the “prison should have reviewed the type and level of restraint used”, given the rapid deterioration in his health.
Earp had been given the sentence of 14-years and four months in 2018 after attacking the defenceless woman in her home in Newtown in Wales.
He was with two accomplices, but it was Earp who beat the woman with an unknown weapon.
He had followed her to her home and confronted her on her doorstep. He forced his way inside and demanded cash before taking an engagement ring, gold watch and the woman’s late husband's gold ring.
Earp was told by the judge that he had “ruined” the woman’s life.