Coroner urges crackdown on prison 'hooch'

Sheldon Jeans did not intend to die when he took the drugs and hooch, the jury found

A coroner has urged the government to clamp down on prisoners accessing illicitly brewed alcohol and medication after an inmate died after consuming both.

Sheldon Jeans, 32, was serving a sentence at HMP Guys Marsh in Dorset when he took the "hooch" and four drugs. He was found collapsed in his cell in November 2022.

Jeans, from Portsmouth, had a history of mental health issues and was anxious about the impending outcome of a parole hearing when he took them, a jury at Dorset Coroner's Court in Bournemouth heard.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "We will carefully consider the coroner's findings and will respond to the report in due course."

The jury found the levels of drugs and alcohol separately would not have killed Jeans.

But his posture resulted in fatal respiratory depression, which he had not intended.

He was found to have taken pregabalin, used to treat epilepsy and anxiety, and the antidepressant mirtazapine.

Jeans also took the opioid painkiller dihydrocodeine and quetiapine, which is used to treat mental health conditions. He had not been prescribed any of them.

Bottles that could be used for illegally brewed alcohol were found stacked outside a cell window during the recent inspection

But Dorset coroner Rachael Griffin said Jeans had "excessive amounts of medication he was prescribed and had previously been prescribed and [had been] discontinued" in his cell.

The government should adopt national policies to address hooch and how prisoners access medication in jail, she added.

Prisoners told inspectors in January that alcohol and drugs were easy to get hold of at the jail, near Shaftesbury. HM Inspectorate of Prisons found its culture had deteriorated since a visit in 2022.

Drugs, tobacco and mobile phones were smuggled into it stuffed inside dead rats, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said in 2019.

The MoJ and other bodies responsible for care at the jail must respond to Mrs Griffin's concerns by 19 September.

Jeans' family said they hope his death would lead to more resources going into prisons, which they said "will in turn help prevent other families going through the same heartache".

They added: "Serving time in prison is about accountability but it must also provide rehabilitation.

"It is crucial that prisoners with mental health and substance misuse problems are protected so that one day they can get back on track and return to the community."