‘Not possible’ to say if prisoner intended to take his own life
A CORONER has ruled it is not possible to say whether a prisoner found hanged in his cell had intended to kill himself.
Matthew Lee Ware was part way through serving a double-digit prison term when he was found unconsious at HMP Parc in Bridgend. An inquest into his death heard he had a history of mental health issues and drug problems.
The hearing was told Mr Ware, who had been suffering with back pain since 2003, had also been in debt after buying drugs inside the prison. And weeks before his death he had told his mum “I can’t cope anymore”.
A pathologist said he was satisfied that there was no third party involvement.
Andrew Keeping, who was a prison custody officer at the time, gave evidence at the hearing and said Mr Ware would have his “highs and lows”.
He told the inquest: “I got on with him. When he came out of his cell he was a bit hit and miss – sometimes he would engage with people but other times he would flat out refuse.”
Mr Keeping added he wouldn’t engage as much if his back was in pain, adding: “If he was having problems on that day, and he was in pain, he wouldn’t leave his cell and he wouldn’t want to talk to anyone. You could see him struggling to manoeuvre around the wing.”
Prison staff raised the alarm on the morning of November 22, 2018, after finding Mr Ware hanged in his cell.
The hearing was told that when Mr Ware was found suspended, four prison officers who attended his cell did not have box cutter style knives on them, which they are expected to have on them. However, while officers tried to hold up his body as another retrived the knife, Mr Ware was already “unresponsive”, his inquest was told. Despite attempts to resuscitate him, he was pronounced dead a short while later.
Coroner David Regan gave the medical cause of death as “pressure on the neck”, but decided against recording a conclusion of suicide because it was not possible to say whether Mr Ware had deliberately intended to take his own life.