HMP Nottingham death: Mother of hanged prisoner criticises jail

Marc Maltby was denied a request to call his mother Sharon Whitford

The mother of a man found hanging in his prison cell said he should have been given more support by staff.

Marc Maltby was the fifth inmate to die at HMP Nottingham over a month-long period in 2017.

A inquest jury at Nottingham Coroner's Court concluded the 23-year-old had killed himself.

His mother Sharon Whitford, from Newbold in Derbyshire, said staff should have responded to concerns earlier.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice said "significant improvements" had been made at the prison since Maltby's death, with more training in place for staff and each prisoner now given "a dedicated officer they can talk to".

The inquest heard Maltby had been recalled to prison on 22 September 2017, at a time when the prison was described as having problems with drugs and violence.

He requested help from the jail's mental health team, but when a nurse arrived to carry out an assessment he had been moved to a different wing and the appointment was rescheduled.

Jurors heard Maltby feared being attacked and requested to be moved to a different unit.

HMP Nottingham holds up to 800 inmates after the numbers were reduced from 1,060

On 12 October he was denied a request to call his mother, and staff responded when he began damaging his cell.

The inquest heard they used a table tennis table to block the door so they could not be hit by items thrown from the cell.

Maltby was seen hanging in his cell that evening by another prisoner.

The cause of death was recorded as hanging.

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The jury said it believed Maltby "intended to bring about his death through the period of ligation", and said the initial response time of staff when he was damaging his cell was "adequate".

However, the jury also said the decision to use a table tennis table to block his cell door and staff responses after the table was in place were "inadequate".

Speaking after the hearing, Ms Whitford said staff at the prison were "not able to listen and respond to prisoners" like her son.

"I think that if he had managed to speak to me that day I would have been able to calm him down," she said.

"Marc did not intend to die. He just wanted someone to listen."