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Jail staff sacked over messages mocking suicide of prisoner
The Guardian
|October 26, 2024
Two prison officers have been dismissed for joking about an inmate's suicide on a WhatsApp group in a string of abusive messages made just hours after his death.
Messages celebrating the death of the 21-year-old at HMP Wandsworth were posted on a group containing 27 members of staff employed at the south-west London jail.
According to the Times, which was passed the messages by a whistleblower, hours after the prisoner's death, prison officer Kevin O'Farrell asked if the prisoner was the man he referred to as "the fuckwit". A colleague said: "Former fuckwit."
O'Farrell wrote "Splendid if so. Total prick." He also wrote "utter cunt, no loss" and "Good, I hope he suffered."
Another officer, Armin Naroozi, posted a gif of a man dancing, alongside the words: "Another one bites the dust". He also wrote "If he wasn't such a cunt, I might have felt sorry for him."
An officer reported the messages to the governor and O'Farrell and Naroozi were sacked last year for unprofessional conduct. The other members of staff in the group were given warnings and guidance.
This story is from the October 26, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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