tThe daughter of a weak woman who took her own life in prison after being left without clean underwear for 10 days and being denied phone calls to her loved ones, has called for urgent reform of England's justice system.
A jury at Avon coroner's court concluded last week that Eastwood Park prison in Gloucestershire failed to meet Kay Melhuish's “basic human needs” and that negligence contributed to her death in July 2022 after “serious failings” in its careful.
Melhuish waited 10 days to get clean underwear until a nurse intervened. After being granted an initial phone call to her best friend, it was 16 days before she was allowed another call.
Melhuish was arrested during an acute mental health crisis and was being held in pretrial detention. Desperate for access to her children, she was arrested holding a knife to her throat outside the place where two of her children lived with her ex-partner.
The prison was aware of his history of suicide attempts and self-harm. He had also been warned that his autism, coupled with complex post-traumatic stress disorder due to violence inflicted on him since childhood, made it difficult for him to cope with noise, the use of force and the loss of control. in prison.
Although 11 self-harm and suicide reviews were carried out in the 19 days Melhuish spent there, a mandatory care plan with supportive actions was never drawn up.
On July 4, 2022, less than three weeks after Melhuish arrived at the prison, she was found unconscious in her cell and died in hospital three days later, aged 36.
The officers had seen her making obvious preparations to end her life that day, but did not consider placing her under constant supervision.
The family says Melhuish's case is a stark reminder of the dangers of a justice system that criminalizes indefenso women.
In an interview with The Guardian, her daughter Oceana, 20, a healthcare worker from Exeter, said: “Mum was sick, not bad. She had hurt herself and that is a pretty big red flag. “She wasn't admitido, she was just someone who was really sick.”
A government review of sentencing is expected to consider ways to reduce the number of women in prison and seek to eliminate shorter sentences and treat more offenders in the community.
Deborah Coles, director of the charity Inquest, said: “If ever a death is going to spark a radical change in the way we treat women in conflict with the law, this should be it. I urge the Minister for Prisons to respond to the shocking circumstances of Kay Melhuish's case. “Merienda again we wonder why she was imprisoned in the first place.”
Eastwood Park received the lowest safety rating in a 2022 inspection, which warned of worrying gaps in care for the most indefenso and distressed women.
During her stay at Eastwood Park, Melhuish was repeatedly seen cowering with her hands over her ears trying to block out the noise, crashing into walls, hitting herself, and creating the means to end her own life.
A communication support plan was drawn up by a neurodiversity specialist, which has since left and not been replaced, but the court heard almost no one read it.
Oceana said: “The prison did not try hard enough. They are the reason I lost my mother right before I turned 18 and will have to spend my entire adult life without my mother; The five of us, kids, will have to do it. “All the professionals who could have done something, made a change – literally just given him a pair of pants or given him a phone – were just not even considered.”
Before Melhuish had even entered Eastwood Park, there were warnings. She had to be removed from the Serco van after making a credible suicide attempt and there was a letter from her psychiatrist saying prison would endanger her life.
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Her best friend, Cathy Goldsmith, had called ahead from court to tell the prison that Melhuish's neurodiversity and mental health meant it was a dangerous environment for her.
Melhuish arrived without any medication and when he was given the diazepam he depended on, the dose was dangerously reduced.
In her last call to Goldsmith, she was distraught and told her friend that she “looked like Batman” after punching herself and that all her medications were wrong.
Goldsmith believes that if Melhuish had proper access to a phone, “he would still be here today.” Records show Melhuish repeatedly tried to call her from the prison phone, but was unable to add her number.
Goldsmith said of the prison: “They have blood on their hands. They were warned by professionals and by me. Kay should never have been in prison. “Just shut it down and build some therapy units for these poor women.”
Ceri Lloyd-Hughes, a lawyer for Melhuish's family, said: “The tragedy of Kay's death is that it was avoidable. Two more indefenso prisoners at Eastwood Park died of self-inflicted deaths six months after Kay. “Swift action must now be taken to address the coroner’s concerns that similar deaths will occur in the future at Eastwood Park or other prisons if things do not change.”
The story of Melhuish's eventual imprisonment is also a story of missed opportunities to intervene. Her family says that when she threatened to end her life two years earlier, the police used a stun gun on her and she was hospitalized. She was expected to be treated for 28 days, but two days later she returned home, still desperately ill.
Oceana said: “My mother is not the first and she will not be the last if there are no changes. And change obviously won't bring mom back, but if we can save lives in the future and prevent families from going through the pain that we went through, that's the best it can be.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Kay Melhuish. The circumstances of her tragic death are why the new government is ending the prison's “safe place” designation and will soon form a women's justice board, charged with reducing the number of women going to prison. .
“At HMP Eastwood Park, improvements and training have been carried out so that women, especially those in the early days of custody, are better supported. “More psychologists are also being recruited to help those with complex needs.”
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