Wayne was a 43-year-old Black man who had diagnoses of sickle cell disease, epilepsy and delusional disorder. He was found unresponsive in a cell on the healthcare unit at HMP Pentonville on the evening of 17 May 2022, having been subject to restraint by prison officers ten hours earlier. The jury found that Wayne died of acute chest syndrome – the most common fatal complication of sickle cell disease – caused by the restraint.
Wayne was restrained after raising concerns about the unclean state of a cell that he had been moved to. While being conveyed under restraint to the segregation unit, he collapsed to his knees and told officers that he could not breathe. Despite this, Wayne was subject to a forcible strip search in which his clothes were cut off him and he was left naked in a segregation cell. The nurse responsible for monitoring his physical health during and after the restraint failed to address his stark physical deterioration and in particular did not check his medical records or take vital observations which an expert haematologist considered would have identified that the restraint had triggered a sickle cell crisis requiring urgent hospital treatment likely to have saved Wayne’s life.
After seven hours in segregation, Wayne was conveyed to the prison’s healthcare for a mental health assessment. By this time, he was so frail that he collapsed to his knees and had to be transported in a wheelchair. Despite telling healthcare staff that he could not breathe and asking to see a doctor, vital observations were still not taken (in breach of a mandatory protocol) and no other care was rendered. Three hours later, Wayne was found unresponsive and, following attendance of paramedics, he was pronounced dead at 23.46.
The Inquest jury returned a narrative conclusion criticising both prison and healthcare for a litany of causative failings and found that gross failures to provide basic medical attention contributed to Wayne’s death.
Raj Desai acted for Wayne’s family instructed by Ellie Cornish of Hickman & Rose solicitors. For further information see here and here and here.