Inquest told prison staff could not have foreseen inmate's death

Jury told internal investigation found officers acted in 'good faith'

A warning that this story contains information which some readers may find distressing.

An internal investigation into the death of a serving prisoner found that staff could not have foreseen that he was going to take his own life.

That’s what the jury at the inquest of Christopher Peter Corkill has been told today (16 July) as it sat, for the second day, at Douglas Courthouse.

The 46-year-old, from Ballasalla, was found dead in his cell on the morning of 24 February 2023.

His cause of death was recorded as asphyxia due to suffocation.

Death in custody

Following Mr Corkill’s death in custody Prison Governor Leroy Bonnick instigated an independent investigation to establish the facts.

This was carried out by Karen Wagstaffe - the Office, Estate and Community Service Manage for the Isle of Man Probation Service – who interviewed prison staff and prisoners.

Her report, dated 27 April 2023, was read to the jury today.

Mrs Wagstaffe said Mr Corkill had gone into custody on 23 July 2022 and was ‘no stranger’ to the prison environment having served previous periods of incarceration.

Her report highlighted that Mr Corkill had been the subject of a ‘Folder 5’ – where regular observations are carried out on those at risk of self-harm or suicide – on two previous occasions.

However the additional checks had stopped at the end of July 2022.

Mrs Wagstaffe found that, at the time of his death, ‘without exception’ no concerns had been reported to the prison about Mr Corkill’s state of mind.

She noted that on 23 February 2023 the prison’s mental health nurse had reported his presentation as ‘normal’ adding there’d been an ‘overwhelming sense of shock’ as a result of his death.

Recommendations

The internal report found that prison staff had been left questioning whether they could or should have foreseen what happened.

However Mrs Wagstaffe noted that they couldn’t have done saying they’d all acted ‘in good faith’.

The jury was told she’d made a number of recommendations in her report – including reducing and monitoring the use of plastic bags, correcting the timestamp on CCTV and looking at staff welfare.

This, jurors heard, was after reports from staff that they’d felt ‘rushed’ to go back to normal duties following Mr Corkill’s death.

The resumption of the education programme that day was also branded ‘disrespectful’ with Mrs Wagstaffe noting: “The death of a prisoner affects everyone.”

‘Revolving door’

At Douglas Courthouse today the jury also heard from one of Mr Corkill’s friends who is still a serving prisoner at the Isle of Man Prison.

He told the court he’d known him for around 24 years and had last spoken to him, just before lock-up, on the evening of 23 February.

Whilst he noted he'd looked ‘a bit down’ earlier that day the prisoner said he was his ‘normal self’ adding that Mr Corkill hadn’t mentioned having any suicidal thoughts.

“I don’t think the jail is to blame for this one. It was completely out of the blue,” the prisoner added.

Highlighting his perception that there is a lack of rehabilitation available to prisoners he told jurors: “My opinion was he was just sick of that revolving door. It should just be an exit only.”

Inquest continues

The inquest will continue at Douglas Courthouse tomorrow (17 July).

If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this story there are details of local organisations that provide advice and support HERE.