Killer at HMP Woodhill should have been on constant watch says report

Bulent Sessacar was sentenced to a minimum of 10 years and eight months for killing his wife

A man who killed his wife should have been under constant supervision before he died in prison, a report said.

Bulent Sessacar admitted killing Rebecca Sessacar in Croydon in 2012 on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The 36-year-old was found dead in his cell at HMP Woodhill on 21 January 2021 two days after he was transferred there.

The Prison Service said recommendations in the report had been acted upon.

Sessacar was diagnosed with emotionally unstable and antisocial personality disorders.

In 2014, he was sentenced to a minimum of 10 years and eight months for killing his wife by stabbing her 58 times with two kitchen knives in their home and in 2015 transferred to HMP Gartree, in Market Harborough, Leicestershire.

The mental health team at Gartree continued to support him, following his earlier diagnosis, and in 2020 Sessacar was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Sessacar "was a very challenging prisoner to manage safely", according to Acting Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) Kimberley Bingham.

The PPO review said a security intelligence report on 19 January 2021 found a recent search of his cell "suggested that he may be involved in inappropriate activity with a member of staff" at Gartree and he was immediately transferred to HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes.

The following day staff increased their observations of Sessacar to three times an hour amid concerns for his welfare, the report said.

On 21 January he was found hanged in his cell.

The PPO review found he should have been under constant supervision.

Ms Bingham said she was "concerned that [staff] did not consider placing Mr Sessacar under constant supervision to give them an opportunity to get to know him better and make a more informed assessment of his risk to himself".

The report has recommended "prison, healthcare and mental health teams consider all risk factors" when managing at risk prisoners and whether they need constant supervision.

A spokeswoman for the Prison Service said: "HMP Woodhill has acted upon all of the Ombudsman's recommendations, including renewed guidance for staff on how to properly manage prisoners with severe mental health issues."

A spokesman for Central and North-West London NHS Foundation Trust, which provides health services at the prison, said: "We agree with the recommendation of the PPO and have sent reminders about our policy to our staff, that they must consider all risks, when making these very difficult assessments."