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Lack of care

01 March 1993

The inadequacies of procedures which are supposed to give protection to prisoners considered to be serious suicide risks have been exposed again by a death in Swaleside Prison, Isle of Sheppey. Andrew Ohene, a Ghanaian born man with a "relevant and significant history of mental illness" died, by hanging himself, on 13 June 1991.

At the inquest, held on 5 February 1993, the North Kent Coroner stated that there had been "no real assessment" of his mental state and he had not received any medical or psychiatric treatment. Although on the hospital wing he was not under constant observation thus "the suicide risk had not been eliminated". Andrew Ohene was isolated in a cell despite persistent deterioration and checked only every 15 minutes. The jury returned a verdict of suicide "aggravated by a lack of care". His brother stated that under the circumstances the verdict was "about the best result we could have".