HMP Berwyn drug death prisoner 'didn't want to be here'

Luke Jones had attempted to take his own life days before he died

A prisoner who died after taking the drug Spice in prison had told a nurse he "didn't want to be here any longer", an inquest has heard.

Luke Morris Jones, 22, died in March 2018, six months before he was due to be released from HMP Berwyn in Wrexham.

He had self-harmed in the past and had a history of using drugs and alcohol, the hearing was told.

Mr Jones had also been under close supervision in the days before he died, after he attempted to kill himself.

However, the observations had been reduced the day before.

The inquest jury was told he had been seen by mental health staff regularly in the year before he died after being referred in April 2017.

HMP Berwyn in Wrexham is smoke free, the inquest heard

Mr Jones, from Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, had reported "fleeting thoughts" of taking his own life and had "superficially" harmed himself with a razor blade.

In May 2017, it was reported he was "impulsive when it came to self-harming".

A consultant psychiatrist also said he had reported hearing voices and was "in a dark place".

However, Mr Jones was "calm and co-operating", had said his mood had improved and that he saw himself in a "stable place" in five years, the jury heard.

The doctor continued to prescribe anti-depressants.

'Makeshift bong'

However, by October that year Mr Jones had stopped taking his medication because it was making him put on weight and he set fire to his room and wanted to kill himself, the inquest was told.

By December, he reported using drugs as "distraction techniques" and told a mental health nurse he "didn't want to be here any longer".

The psychiatrist said Mr Jones had spoken of a history of taking amphetamines throughout his teenage years, and reported using legal highs and being alcohol dependent.

Mental health nurse Pauline Edwards said Mr Jones was "settled" and in a "good place mentally" by January 2018.

He was working in the prison kitchens but following "an incident," he lost his position in February or March, she said.

"He'd lost his job in the kitchens and he found out his mum was unwell... he became very, very low."

Earlier, Det Sgt Rosalind Hewitt, a police officer based at the prison, told the hearing dismantled kettles, laptops and TVs were used by prisoners to create a spark from live wires in order to smoke drugs.

A kettle with a detached handle had been found in Mr Jones's room, as well as a milk carton used as a "makeshift bong", he said.

Pieces of paper in his cell were also analysed and found to contain Spice.

The inquest continues.