Ombudsman meets with Inquest Lawyers Group to discuss deaths in custody

Last night, Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Nigel Newcomen and several of his senior management team met with Deborah Coles, Director of Inquest – the charity providing free advice to people bereaved by a death in custody and detention. Also in attendance for the presentations by both groups and subsequent roundtable discussion were members of Inquest’s Lawyer Group who act for the bereaved.

Reviewing PPO’s fatal incidents investigations in 2016

Mr Newcomen and Richard Pickering, his Deputy heading up PPO’s fatal incidents investigations, presented an update on PPO’s investigations this year. Throughout 2016, the PPO has carried out its investigations against a backdrop of “remorseless increases” in numbers of fatalities, both self-inflicted and from natural causes. The Ombudsman was quick to point out that, while the increase in deaths from natural causes could be explained, there is no easy answer to the sharp rise in self-inflicted deaths. Mr Pickering went on to look at what the future might hold for prisons in general and PPO in particular.

Rising demand creating difficulties for both organisations

A lively roundtable followed, with the Inquest Lawyers Group articulating the difficulties in providing adequate representation to bereaved families in the face of both a sharp increase in demand and a perceived lack of available information during investigations. The Ombudsman and his team sympathised with the increase in workload and articulated his office’s own challenges in “doing more with less”. Members of PPO’s fatal incidents team were also keen to point out the risks of releasing sensitive or incomplete information, as well as speculating on the outcome, while their investigations are ongoing.

Download the Ombudsman’s full presentation to the Inquest Lawyers Group