HMP Stoke Heath: Records altered by staff after prisoner's suicide

Three members of staff at HMP Stoke Heath were suspended during the investigation

Records of welfare checks on an inmate who took his own life at a prison were altered by staff after his death, an investigation has found.

Martin Willis, 55, died at HMP Stoke Heath, near Market Drayton, Shropshire, on the morning of 15 September 2022.

He had asked to be placed under 24-hour supervision prior to his death, after complaining of hearing voices.

But an ombudsman's report found records of observation checks, intended to be carried out hourly, had been amended.

At an inquest held earlier this year, the coroner was told that Mr Willis had been diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2017.

He had been placed under enhanced supervision following an incident on 11 September, when he was found with a ligature which he told staff was intended as a "cry for help".

However, a report from the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman found that checks on Mr Willis, required by enhanced procedures known as ACCT, were not always carried out.

It also found that suicide and self-harm prevention procedures were "not well managed."

"On the morning Mr Willis died he should have been checked at least hourly, but he was not," the report said.

Formal warnings

The ombudsman also found that pages within the ACCT document were "not accurately completed" and supervisor daily checks "were not adequate".

"After Mr Willis had been discovered, an entry was made on his ACCT document recording that he had been checked, as he should have been, before he was discovered," it said.

"This entry was then crossed out."

Alterations to Mr Willis' records led to three members of staff being suspended and issued with formal warnings, before they were allowed to return to their duties.

But the investigation also noted Mr Willis had received "comprehensive support from the mental health team" and said the standard of clinical care he received had been of a good standard.

The Ministry of Justice said that support for the most vulnerable prisoners was being prioritised at HMP Stoke Heath,

"Our thoughts remain with Mr Willis' family and friends," a spokesperson added.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.