Inquest told work ongoing to prevent prison deaths

The inquest into the death of Christopher Corkill resumed on Monday

Every death at the Isle of Man Prison was a "tragedy" and the service was doing "everything we can" to prevent future incidents, an inquest has been told.

Christopher Corkill was found unresponsive in his prison cell at the Jurby facility on the morning of 24 February 2023.

Mr Corkill's was the third death in custody at the facility since 2020, but the inquest previously heard there had not been any deaths for about 40 years prior to that.

The facility's governor Leroy Bonnick said that since the deaths the prison had implemented a new self-harm management policy and improved inmate healthcare.

He told the hearing at Douglas Courthouse that a psychiatrist and nurse specialising in mental health had been introduced, and Manx Care was in the process of recruiting another part-time mental health nurse at the facility.

Inmates were "seen a lot quicker" for their mental health "than if they were in the community", Mr Bonnick said.

'Fine balance'

The prison governor noted that the prison was facing "capacity issues", and the facility's current total of 137 inmates was nearing its capacity of 141.

But he said there were 24 new cells housed in portable cabins which had recently been connected to electricity, and security checks were now being made.

While some items were no longer permitted in the facility, it was a "fine balance" between safety and "intrusive" conditions, he told he hearing.

The prison had also adopted a new self-harm management policy used in the UK called Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork, which replaced the folder five system that was in place at the time of all three deaths.

Training was being rolled out for use of the new policy by prison staff, with the "primary purpose" of that document being to keep vulnerable prisoners safe, and remain "aware of their needs", Mr Bonnick said.

The prison and probation team were "continuing our efforts to prevent acts of self-harm, but I recognise more still needs to be done", Mr Bonnick added.

The hearing was also played the last telephone call between Mr Corkill and his partner of three years Lisa Barnett, in which she asked him if he was alright to which he responded: "Yeah, I'm sound love, plodding along."

The call, which took place on 22 February, ended with Ms Barnett saying "love you" and Mr Corkill replying "love you too, speak to you soon".