The inquest into the self-inflicted death of Emily Hartley has concluded with the jury finding a lack of professionalism at HMP New Hall, including in the implementation of suicide and self-harm procedures (ACCT*), contributed to the 21-year old’s death on 23 April 2016. She was the youngest of 22 women to die in women’s prisons in 2016, the highest annual number of deaths on record. Including Emily, there have been five deaths in HMP New Hall since 2016.
Emily had been remanded in custody in May 2015 after she set fire to herself, her bed and curtains. She had a history of serious mental ill health including self-harm, suicide attempts and drug addiction. This was her first time in prison. Emily’s death took place behind the building where exercise took place, in an out of bounds area. It took prison staff two and half hours to notice that she had gone missing and to find her body, despite the fact that she should have been checked every half an hour because she was considered at risk.
The inquest jury believed at the time of sentencing, New Hall prison was an appropriate place of detention. However, they concluded the deterioration in Emily’s mental state from January 2016 should have sparked a review and a move to a therapeutic unit, which would have been more appropriate.
Read more: INQUEST, http://bit.ly/2nyrPBn
