Report criticises emergency response at prison

Dale Samm died at The Mount on 25 September 2022

An official report has found that prison officers failed to call the correct emergency code after they discovered an inmate had died.

It is the third report in three months to conclude that staff did not follow the correct procedure at HMP The Mount, near Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire.

Dale Samm, who was 28, was found dead in his cell two years ago, just weeks after entering the jail.

The Prison Service said it accepted the report's recommendations.

Samm was sent to The Mount after being sentenced to two months and 23 days in jail for property damage and carrying a knife.

Kimberley Bingham, the acting prisons ombudsman, said in her report on his death that an officer had seen him "slumped" between his bed and cell window during a routine check on 25 September 2022.

The officer had called for help from a colleague and then noticed Samm was not breathing, but she failed to call a radio emergency code until the second officer arrived.

The officers entered Samm's cell when back-up arrived and found he was dead. An inquest concluded he had taken his own life.

Ms Bingham wrote that "staff could not have foreseen his death", but there were "delays" with the emergency response.

Her report said a medical emergency code should have been called as soon as the first officer realised Samm was not breathing, and officers should have entered the cell when two of them were present.

There have now been three reports in three months detailing how officers did not use the correct emergency code

It is the third report in three months to note problems with officers calling an emergency code at the prison.

A report in July found officers had not used the code when they discovered James Bailey dead in his cell.

In August, the Ombudsman recorded that staff also failed to call an emergency code when Godfrey Muzhuzha – who later died – reported breathing difficulties.

In Samm's case, the Ombudsman also found he had not been allocated a key worker four weeks after being moved to The Mount.

They said the prison's governor should make sure staff understood their responsibilities during medical emergencies, and ensure the key worker scheme provided "meaningful and ongoing support" for prisoners.

A Prisons Service spokesperson said: "Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Dale Samm.

"We have accepted all the report's recommendations and have reminded staff at HMP The Mount of their responsibilities during a medical emergency."