HMP Humber: Spice death inmate had no difficulty getting drugs - ombudsman

Drug taking and trading is a serious problem at the prison, the ombudsman said

A prisoner who died after taking spice had "no difficulty" in getting hold of drugs at an East Yorkshire jail without staff being aware, a report has found.

Leam Chambers, 27, was serving a six-year sentence at HMP Humber when he was found dead in his cell in October 2018.

The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) Sue McAllister said staff failed to carry out adequate welfare checks in the hours before his death.

The Prison Service said "its thoughts remain with Leam Chambers' family".

Chambers, a convicted burglar, had been diagnosed with mental health issues.

He had a "significant history of self-harm and substance misuse", the report said.

'Cursory checks'

During his time at the jail, in Brough, near Hull, he was monitored under suicide and self-harm prevention procedures, known as ACCT.

The ombudsman's report found that during the night before he was found dead, officers failed to carry out adequate checks.

It said: "On one occasion, an officer failed to check on Mr Chambers but recorded that he had, while other night staff made only cursory checks.

"We cannot say if the outcome would have been different for Mr Chambers if more thorough checks had been carried out, but it might have been."

His was the second drug-related death at the jail since 2016, the report said.

The ombudsman said the report into the previous prisoner's death triggered concerns about the availability of drugs at HMP Humber and that Chambers' death had raised similar ones.

Ms McAllister said, although the prison had a "sound local drugs strategy", illegal substances continued to be available in October 2018 and "Mr Chambers apparently had no difficulty in obtaining and using drugs without staff becoming aware of it".

She made several recommendations including that the prison governor ensure the "key drug issues" were identified and that "the prison's local drugs strategy is kept under review to ensure these key issues are being addressed".

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "We are addressing the concerns raised in the report, and our £125m security investment is helping us tackle contraband across the estate."