How epileptic prisoners are being left to die in jail cells

Damning review finds inmates' lives are being lost needlessly

- AMY-CLARE MARTIN CRIME CORRESPONDENT

Inmates are dying needlessly in Britain’s prisons because of a string of failures in their healthcare, The Independent can reveal.

A damning review commissioned by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) found inmates with epilepsy had been found dead after being locked in single cells despite having uncontrolled seizures.

The shocking research also found prisoners were four times more likely to die of sudden and unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) than those on the outside.

And a quarter of prisoners whose deaths were caused by epilepsy in the past 10 years did not receive the care they were entitled to.

PPO Adrian Usher, who has issued a bulletin calling for better epilepsy management in custody, said grieving families will be tormented by the question of “if they had received equivalent care, would their loved one still be here”.

The heartbroken family of Trevor Monerville, whose care was found to be “unacceptable” after he was found unresponsive in his cell at HMP Lewes in 2021, has been campaigning for prison staff to be properly educated about the risks for people with epilepsy.

His sister, Nadine Smith, said it was “incredibly frustrating” and “painful” to learn epileptic prisoners are continuing to die in custody without proper management of their condition.

Monerville, 33, a mechanic and handyman from Hackney, east London, experienced frequent seizures and took daily medication when he was sent to the category B men’s prison on recall over allegations of criminal damage.

Despite his seizures worsening in prison, he spent most of his time in a single cell by himself. At 9.47am on 18 April 2021, he was found face down in his cell having suffered a fatal seizure. Staff had failed to complete a morning roll call as they were supposed to.