Bereaved families bring case against government over prisoner suicides

Relatives of prisoners at HMP Woodhill who have taken their own lives are to bring a legal challenge against the institution’s governor and the justice secretary for allegedly failing to introduce basic safety measures. Eighteen prisoners have killed themselves at the jail in Milton Keynes since early 2013 despite repeated recommendations and guidance from coroners’ reports and official bodies that investigate deaths in custody.

The most recent death at Woodhill was before Christmas, shortly after the high court granted permission for the case to be heard. Deaths in custody reached a record high in England and Wales last year. In 2016, there were 119 self-inflicted deaths; the previous year there were 89.

The action has been brought by Pearl Scarfe and Julie Barber, the mother and sister of Ian Brown, who took his life in his cell in Woodhill on 19 July 2015, and Jamie Blyde, the brother of Daniel Dunkley, who died on 2 August 2016, four days after he was found hanging in his cell.

The families are seeking to persuade the court to order that the governor of Woodhill prison and the justice secretary, Liz Truss, take urgent action to reduce the risk of self-inflicted deaths in the future. Woodhill had the highest suicide rate of any prison in 2016; seven prisoners killed themselves there last year.

Barber said: “Ian was much loved. Our loss has been unimaginable. We all miss him every day. I believe if he’d had the help and support he needed he’d still be here. Every time I hear about another death in the prison, I think: ‘Why?’

“If lessons had been learned when my brother died, all those families would not have had to go through what we have had to go through. It’s hard for us to hear about more deaths. It makes me angry that suicides have happened that could have been prevented if changes had been put in place, as they should have been.”

The judicial review, to be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, is being supported by Inquest, the organisation that helps relatives at coroners’ courts. Inquest says it is concerned about the lack of a national oversight mechanism to monitor, audit and follow up actions taken in response to recommendations by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman and coroners.

Deborah Coles, the director of Inquest, said: “The number of self-inflicted deaths occurring in prisons in England and Wales is currently at record levels. It is therefore more vital than ever that preventative actions are identified, changes implemented, and sustained improvements enforced to prevent future deaths.

“The current system for learning lessons and implementing changes arising from deaths in custody is not fit for purpose; it does not adequately prevent future deaths, meet the hopes and needs of bereaved families, or satisfy the wider public interest.

“The deplorable situation at HMP Woodhill is just one stark example of a much wider national problem. Deaths occur time and again as a result of repeated failings. Families are told that lessons will be learned, but nothing changes. The reality is that the Ministry of Justice has wholly failed to address the unacceptable rise in self-inflicted deaths.”

Jo Eggleton, a solicitor at the law firm Deighton Pierce Glynn, who represents the families of Brown and Dunkley, said: “[They] have shown great strength in bringing this claim. Despite the awful ordeal they have been through, they have put themselves on the line to try and protect others and prevent future deaths.

“They and the other families of men who have died at Woodhill that I represent share this common goal and have worked together to try and make it possible. They should be recognised and applauded for that. It’s just a shame that this claim has had to be brought at all.”

In a letter to Truss last week, the Labour MP Harriet Harman, the chair of parliament’s joint committee on human rights, called for a national oversight mechanism “with a duty to collate, analyse and monitor learning outcomes and their implementation arising out of deaths in prisons”.

In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14.

Bereaved families bring case against government over prisoner suicides

Dr Ubani: bereaved son sued for criticising doctor who killed his father

The case triggered disappointment from British authorities, who had sought to have Ubani extradited to face criminal costs in this nation, but failed to secure co-operation from Germany.

The pensioner’s sons believe he ought to be barred from operating and four many years in the past confronted him at a medical conference, looking for an explanation for their father’s death.

Rory Gray stated they sought out the doctor since they had been shocked that he was speaking at a conference advertising his cosmetic surgical treatment the day after he had failed to attend the GMC hearing which stopped him from training in Britain.

Mr Gray, 49, mentioned he and his brother Stuart, a GP from Worcestershire, raised the matter, saying “You have received no proper to communicate about healthcare items. You happen to be grossly incompetent,” and describing Ubani as a “charlatan and a killer” prior to conference staff had them removed.

For the duration of the confrontation, Rory Gray muttered to his brother that Ubani was “an animal” – a remark which he says would not have been heard by other folks.

The scientist, who operates in Germany, believes Ubani was not even aware of the remark until he presented a transcript of the incident when the medical professional tried to sue him above the other remarks.

In a claim lodged at Lindau District Court in Bavaria, Ubani is suing Mr Gray for reduction of a skilled fee. He claims that as a consequence of the confrontation, he was forced to depart the conference in Bavaria and forego his speaking fee and dinner.

He is claiming 1,148 euros (948) for loss of his speaking fee and two,250 euros (£1,858) for legal fees.

Ubani also wants Mr Gray to sign a letter saying he will not in long term use the words “he is an animal”.

The medical professional first attempted to sue the Grays in August 2010 above the incident, and experimented with to look for an injunction stopping them from coming inside 550 metres of him. The German courts ruled that they were free of charge to refer to Ubani as a “charlatan and a killer” but must not use the word animal to describe him.

A yr later on, Ubani lost an appeal in Munich Substantial Court.

But last September, Ubani wrote to Rory Gray, demanding that he create a letter promising to spend him cash if he ever referred to him as an animal in potential. Mr Gray said he ignored the letter, and now faces a trial which is due to start up coming week.

Mr Gray, 49, a scientist, who performs for the German weather workplace, informed The Telegraph: “I have no intention of calling him an animal but of program I’m not going to write to him – this is the man who came into my dad’s residence and killed him.”

Public concern about the death of their father, in February 2008, triggered adjustments in the way out-of-hrs providers are run, to increase oversight of locum medical professionals, and the organizations who use them.

It was a single of a string of circumstances which place pressure on regulators to introduce adjustments, which came in final week, providing the GMC powers to check out that doctors from Europe can communicate English to a protected common.

Last week regulators wrote to the Gray brothers, thanking them for their operate campaigning for modifications to the law.

The letter, penned by Tanja Schubert, the GMC’s head of European and International Affairs, says: “It is four years given that we very first voiced worries about the law and referred to as for it to be transformed to shield individuals.

“It has taken a massive energy to carry about this change and we are acutely mindful we could not have accomplished this without your support.”

Till last week, the GMC was not permitted to inquire medical professionals from Europe to provide evidence they have the necessary knowledge of English to do their jobs.

The new law indicates that if the GMC has issues, they can refuse to grant medical doctors a licence to work right here.

The legal alterations close a loophole which has existed since 1983 in European Union guidelines which let citizens from other member states work freely in Britain.

Beneath the existing system, more than 25,000 medical doctors from countries inside of the European Union have registered to function in the NHS with no any checks on their language abilities.

Right up until now, physicians from Europe who place patients at threat could only be removed from the health care register soon after incidents are uncovered.

Dr Ubani: bereaved son sued for criticising doctor who killed his father

Bereaved relatives criticise police watchdog more than deaths in custody

Sean Rigg, who died in police custody in 2008. Photograph: PA

Bereaved families have criticised the police watchdog – the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) – saying its members lack “empathy, sensitivity and compassion” when investigating deaths in police custody.

In an IPCC report into the way the commission handles inquiries, relatives stated they “felt they and individuals who had died were wrongly characterised or unfairly judged”. And the report noted the impression that police receive a lot more favourable treatment than members of the public.

The report, published on Monday, called for much better training for IPCC staff on problems associated to race and ethnicity, mental well being and learning disabilities.

It was welcomed by Marcia Rigg, the sister of Sean Rigg, a forty-year-outdated musician with psychological health difficulties who died in police custody in 2008. But she said the watchdog has “not won the families more than nevertheless”.

The overview recognized psychological wellness as a key concern in numerous of the deaths in police custody the IPCC investigates.

About half of the people who died in those circumstances in 2012-13, and practically two-thirds of those who apparently took their very own lives afterwards, are known to have had psychological well being issues.

The 111-webpage report also comprehensive issues raised over “inadequate consideration to detail and a failure to collect and collate all proof or to pursue all realistic lines of inquiry”.

The IPCC’s overview additional: “Families, their representatives and police officers criticised us for taking too long to comprehensive investigations, leading to additional pressure for all involved.”

It also set out a series of proposals created to increase IPCC investigations, like making police officers attend witness interviews as soon as attainable following an incident.

The charity Inquest contributed to the investigation. Its co-director, Deborah Coles, mentioned: “The absence of a robust police watchdog has allowed corruption and hazardous practices to go unchecked.

“Family members and public confidence will only be achieved if the IPCC delivers an investigation procedure that assures wrongdoing, misconduct and bad practice is uncovered and police are appropriately held to account.

Marcia Rigg mentioned: “We hope all the recommendations are implemented with no delay, and that as nicely as assisting us the evaluation will support other families and lead to efficient change in the way deaths in police custody are investigated.”

She criticised the unique inquiry into her brother’s death as a “Mickey Mouse investigation”.

She said: “In the first stages, a whole lot of our questions were not answered.

“We have been really concerned as to why the officers have been not being interviewed quickly and we had been extremely concerned that the officers have been allowed to collude in excess of their statements of fact whereas an ordinary member of the public would definitely not be permitted to do that. We found that extremely insensitive.”

The IPCC review explained there had been some reported examples of good practice in the commission’s engagement with bereaved households.

With reference to problems of discrimination, the watchdog explained it would, in all situations, take into account whether this required investigation.

It also stated it was supplying ongoing refresher instruction for both investigators and casework managers above how to deal with allegations of discrimination.

Bereaved relatives criticise police watchdog more than deaths in custody