Hull prisoner who died of Covid was 'deprived of dignity' - daughter

Alpha Kalay died in prison after contracting coronavirus

Opportunities were missed to treat a 74-year-old retired firefighter who died in prison after contracting coronavirus, a coroner has ruled.

Alpha Kalay, an inmate at HMP Hull, died on 19 January 2021.

An inquest in Hull was told earlier treatment would have "significantly increased" his chances of survival.

His daughter Melanie said staff had "deprived him of his dignity". The Prison Service said it would "carefully consider" the coroner's findings.

Mr Kalay, who was born in Sierra Leone, was serving a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2019 following an "altercation with a teenager in his garden".

According to the family's solicitor, Mr Kalay suffered from spinal nerve damage and had only 20% mobility in his legs.

He also suffered from incontinence, and had a number of other underlying health conditions which made him clinically vulnerable to the Covid-19 virus.

Alpha Kalay was serving a four-and-a-half-year sentence at HMP Hull

Towards the end of December 2020, Mr Kalay was placed in isolation after his wing buddy tested positive, and all care and support he was receiving stopped with no alternative care plan put in place, the inquest was told.

The court heard there were various failures in terms of Mr Kalay's care after he presented as unwell, including a failure to recognise that a so-called "dirty protest" in his cell was actually a symptom of Covid-19.

Ian Sprakes, Assistant Coroner for Hull and the East Riding, said Mr Kalay tested positive for the virus on 8 January 2021, but referrals were not acted upon.

"Healthcare involvement to assess Mr Kalay should have taken place on 12 and 13 January 2021. This did not occur and represented a significant missed opportunity to have assessed Mr Kalay's medical condition," he said.

There was also a failure to inform and involve healthcare when it was considered that Mr Kalay was engaging in a "dirty protest", the coroner said.

Giving a narrative conclusion, he said: "This represented a further missed opportunity for Mr Kalay's medical condition to have been assessed."

'Long list of failings'

Ruth Waters-Falk, from Hodge Jones & Allen Solicitors, said: "Mr Kalay was an elderly man who was deprived of the most basic care and humanity whilst in prison at HMP Hull.

"Mr Kalay was patently ill for a number of days, and yet his symptoms were incongruously treated as a behavioural issue rather than the medical emergency which it so clearly was," she said.

"The prison's insistence that Mr Kalay was engaging in a dirty protest is shocking, and we hope that steps will be taken by the prison to ensure this doesn't happen again.

"The long list of failings outlined by the coroner reflects just how how badly Mr Kalay was let down."

Mr Kalay's daughter added: "My dad was clearly very ill and it has been difficult to understand how prison and medical staff at the prison could have treated him in any way than other than as a poorly elderly man.

"They deprived him of his dignity and failed to keep him safe and well.

"Whilst I welcome the coroner's conclusion regarding the failings of the prison and healthcare staff, it does not change what happened to my dad and the inhumane way in which he was treated.

"I hope that no other prisoner is ever left in such a degrading way again."

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "Our thoughts are with Mr Kalay's family following this week's inquest.

"As the public will appreciate, the pandemic was an unprecedented challenge for prison staff trying to keep prisoners and their colleagues safe, but we will carefully consider the coroner's findings."