Prisoner found dead on floor of Thamesmead jail cell 'could have been there for hours'

Southwark Coroner’s Court was told dad-of-two Darren McConnell died in Thameside Prison on December 4, 2014, the day after he was jailed.

The 41-year-old convict, who was injecting £60 worth of heroin and crack cocaine on a near-daily basis until his arrest, was being held in the 18-bed in-patient unit which is monitored 24-hours-a-day.

A statement from his sister Joanne McConnell, read by Coroner Sarah Ormond-Walshe yesterday (March 17), explained the lifelong Millwall supporter had been introduced to drugs by his physically abusive father at the age of 11.

As a child Mr McConnell spent some time in care, where he was abused, and he found his dad dead from a drug overdose when he was 18 years old.

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Miss McConnell said: “My father liked to torment and play games with us when we were growing up.

“My mother would fake health problems to go into hospital and escape him.”

At the time of his arrest on December 2, Mr McConnell had been taking 110mg of methadone a day, prescribed by medical professionals, as well as street benzodiazepines, sometimes known as benzos.

He was suffering from the bacterial skin infection cellulitis, and was extremely malnourished. He went to Thameside via Lewisham Hospital and Camberwell Magistrates’ Court.

The night of his death

At Thameside, prisoners are locked in their cells from 5pm and McConnell was supposed to receive half-hourly checks because of the possible side-effects of drug withdrawal, which include fatal seizures, the jury heard.

However, Mr McConnell was subject to hourly checks on the night he died, which involved healthcare assistants employed by Care UK opening the hatch to check the prisoner is “breathing and comfortable”.

Senior mental health nurse Katie Saunders, one of the first to see Mr McConnell’s lifeless body, suspected he had been dead “for a couple of hours”, the inquest heard.

When questioned by the prison ombudsman at the Serco facility, in January of last year, she said “whoever was doing the checks did not do the checks properly”.

Ms Saunders said she rushed straight to the cell after a panic call came through on her radio, and attempted to resuscitate Mr McConnell with a defibrillator.

The nurse added: “It was my first dead body that I had been in contact with.

“I know in hindsight there was no chance of reviving him, but I tried my utmost in the position I was in.

“There was blood underneath his head, but we were unable to tell where it was coming from.”

He was found lying on his back with his head, and around half his torso, underneath the bed, the inquest heard.

Ms Saunders said it was not particularly strange for prisoners to sleep on the floor at the back of their cells, near the radiator and the window, because they were so cold in winter.

Paramedics arrived at 9.53pm, and pronounced the patient dead at the scene.

Registered mental health nurse Steve Lodge, who met regularly with Mr McConnell until his arrest, said: “Benzo creates a tolerance.

“If you stop that suddenly, you go into withdrawal – seizures, fits of some sort.

“They would collapse and find it hard to breathe.”

Dr Ajibade Salami, a GP with a special interest in substance misuse who was the lead GP within Greenwich’s three prisons, said those suffering from Benzo withdrawal would normally start showing symptoms within six to 24 hours.

Healthcare assistant Joanne Cierzniakowska, who found Mr McConnell’s body when she took over checks at 9.30pm, told the jury “the fingers of his hand were curled”.

Ms Cierzniakowska had first met Mr McConnell the night before, when he complained of numbness in his hands. She added: “He was nervous, and he asked me to switch off the light.”

At night, nurses cannot unlock the cells without assistance from the prison officer, the inquest was told.

Ms Cierzniakowska confirmed she was not told why Mr McConnell was in the in-patient area, and did not know he had been changed to 30-minute vital sign observations on the advice of a doctor, between the nights of December 3 and 4.

Prior to his arrest, Mr McConnell told Mr Lodge he had been the victim of rape, after going round to someone’s house for drugs and waking up in their bed.

Mr McConnell, who was living in Joe Richards House in Queens Road, Peckham, denied he had been working in the sex industry when questioned by Mr Lodge.

A touching tribute

Paying tribute through her inquest statement, Mr McConnell sister Joanne said: “If I had a problem, I would always go to Darren first.

“He was always full of praise for me, telling me how proud he was of me.

“I had many opportunities Darren did not have. He encouraged me to always be better.

“I believe I am the person I am today because of my brother.”

Following his turbulent early years Mr McConnell moved to Liverpool, met his partner Barbara, and had two children.

He was clean for 10 years, and started working at a rehabilitation centre as a mentor, but relapsed following the death of his beloved mother.

Miss McConnell added: “He gave everything he had to his daughters. The girls loved painting and he spent hours with them.

“He decided the best thing for his family, whom he cared for deeply, was to leave them.

“He sheltered them from the lifestyle he had returned to.

“He slept rough during this time. The last time I saw Darren was in September, a couple of months before he died.

“He would go quiet for a little while when he was in prison, and hope I wouldn’t find out.

“He only committed minor offences. Prison was a safe haven for him, where he had a roof over his head.

“Despite his problems Darren could make people laugh, and made everyone he spoke to feel important.”

The inquest continues.