11th January 2016

Suffolk Coroners Court,
The Farmer’s Club, 10 Northgate Street, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 1HQ
Before HM Senior Coroner Peter Dean
11 January 2016, expected to last 20 days

Callum Brown was 25 when he died at HMP Highpoint on 8 April 2013. He was found hanging in his cell by a fellow prisoner.

The family are concerned that the prison officer unlocking Callum’s cell on the morning of 8 April 2013 did not carry out a welfare check as required. Instead Callum’s body was found by another prisoner.

Callum had a history of self-harm and was seen regularly by a mental health nurse at HMP Highpoint until the nurse went on leave a few months before he died. He was not seen again by anyone in the mental health team before his death, although he continued to be prescribed anti-depressant medication. Callum asked for support from mental health services on several occasions, including in the weeks before his death. Callum’s family are concerned to learn why Callum was removed from the mental health services caseload despite his requests for help, whether the system for providing mental health services at the time of Callum’s death was adequate, and also whether the system for requesting and informing prisoners about appointments was fit for purpose.

Callum’s mother, Helen Carey, said:

“I am concerned that Callum may not have received the appropriate mental health care while at Highpoint. I hope the inquest can provide some answers. I just don’t want this to happen again to anyone else.”

Deborah Coles, Co-Director at INQUEST, said:

“INQUEST is greatly concerned at the high number of recent deaths at HMP Highpoint. There have been nine deaths since February 2013, four of which were self-inflicted deaths. These deaths raise serious concerns about the management and implementation of suicide prevention policies and the provision of mental health services which must be scrutinised thoroughly at this inquest.”

INQUEST has been working with the family of Callum Brown since 2014. The family is represented by INQUEST Lawyers Group member Sara Lomri from Bindmans solicitors and Ruth Brander from Doughty Street Chambers.