Jail staff had ‘insufficient concern’ for woman before death
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Prison staff “paid insufficient attention” to the concerns of a distressed mother before she took her own life at a jail, a newly-published report by the prisons ombudsman has said.
Christine McDonald was withdrawing from drugs when she died on 3 March 2019, a day after arriving at HMP Styal in Cheshire.
The prisons and probation ombudsman (PPO) found the 56-year-old had been “beside herself” after seeing her daughter fall from a window as the pair were arrested in Blackpool on 1 March, but had not been given an update on her condition.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) told the BBC staff training on suicide and self-harm had “been improved” since Ms McDonald’s death.
A fatal incident report from March 2020, external by the then-PPO Sue McAllister, which was published on 14 August, said Ms McDonald had been extremely worried about her daughter Kirsty when she arrived at the jail at 18:30 GMT on 1 March 2019 after being given a 12-week sentence for shoplifting.
It said she was never updated on Kirsty’s condition before she suffered fatal injuries the following night, despite a senior officer taking a message that she was in a serious but stable condition.
Ms McAllister said she was “concerned that staff paid insufficient attention” to what was “not surprisingly a significant issue for Ms McDonald”.
She also expressed concerns that apart from a nurse dispensing medication, there had been “no healthcare presence” at the centre at the time and its officers had “no specialist training” in managing drug withdrawal.
She said staff had not considered Ms McDonald’s risk factors appropriately and had been “dismissive” when other prisoners reported hearing her screaming, making comments about killing herself and expressing concern for her daughter.
In May, an inquest concluded “neglect” by prison staff had contributed to her death.
Ms McAllister said the senior officer had failed to pass on the message about Kirsty’s condition for two hours and 40 minutes and had subsequently found Ms McDonald with critical injuries in her cell.
He told the PPO he had not been told of Ms McDonald’s distress, but had “prioritised” passing the message on.
However, he said he was called to another area of the prison before he could do so.
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Ms McAllister made nine recommendations, including a call for staff to have improved risk identification training and an insistence that all staff were “made aware of and understand their responsibilities during medical emergencies”.
The prison subsequently moved the first night centre from its location at the time of Ms McDonald’s death to an internal wing to allow for greater nursing support.
An MoJ representative said it was “recruiting more specialists to better support women in custody with complex needs and staff training on suicide and self-harm has been improved”.
“Our thoughts remain with the friends and family of Christine McDonald,” they added.
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