Mother criticises prison at son's inquest

Lee Dewhurst

At the inquest into his death, the family of a Rochdale man who was serving a life sentence at a Bristol prison said officers should have been aware of his "troubled" state of mind.

Lee Dewhurst, from Kirkholt, was convicted of murder in 1992 after he battered a man to death with a wrench. He was found hanged in his cell at HMP Bristol in October 2006.

Yesterday (Monday 30 June) Dewhurst's mother Linda Nicholls told coroner Brian Whitehouse that his partner, who he met while on day release from an open prison in South Wales, had suffered a miscarriage.

Dewhurst went on the run from the open prison in July 2006. He was recaptured in Jersey in September that year and taken to Horfield prison. Eight days later he was found hanged in his cell.

His mother also said that police had wanted to question her son about a number of robberies that took place while he was on the run, and his parole had been turned down for further 12 months.

Dewhurst's family lodged an official complaint alleging the Prison Service and Reliance Custody saying that his state of mind had not been taken into account and that he should have been under special watch.

Police Sergeant Steve Cartlidge said a suicide note was found in his cell addressed to the governor of the prison, which read: "Sorry for the inconvenience or distress to your prison staff. No one is to blame for what I have done."

The inquest continues.