Sheldon Woodford death: Prison inmate 'died after delayed 999 call'

Sheldon Woodford's death "could have been prevented", his fiance said

A suicidal inmate died after prison staff reduced checks on him and took nine minutes to call an ambulance when he was found hanged, a report found.

The delay in treating Sheldon Woodford, 24, from Bournemouth, "could have been critical", the Prisons Ombudsman said.

Mr Woodford died in hospital three days after he was found suspended in his cell at HMP Winchester in 2015.

The frequency of checks on him had been cut to hourly to ease the pressure on prison staff, the report added.

Mr Woodford was jailed in February 2015 for robbing a 90-year-old woman in a Bournemouth street, after his mother reported him to the police.

Court staff reported that he had said he would kill himself in prison and had headbutted walls since his arrest.

However, on arrival at HMP Winchester, a prison officer and a nurse judged that he was not at risk.

His care at the jail was "not well-managed", because review meetings were not always held or well-attended, the report said.

On 24 February, Mr Woodford tried to hang himself but was saved by prison officers.

On 8 March, checks on him were reduced to hourly by an officer who said he "believed it would help" busy staff.

The following day he was found hanged but an officer "did not know that an ambulance should be called automatically", the ombudsman said.

The charity Inquest said there had been a further 10 self-inflicted deaths at the jail since Mr Woodford's

Mr Woodford's fiance, Alex Tasker, said the tragedy "could have been prevented if they had called sooner".

The charity Inquest said a further 10 self-inflicted deaths at HMP Winchester since March 2015 showed that "lessons have not been learned".

The Prison Service said it had accepted the ombudsman's recommendations.

In a statement it said procedures to support prisoners on arrival were currently being reviewed and anti-ligature windows would be rolled out at HMP Winchester from January.