Interim Prisoner Ombudsman publishes report into a Death in Custody.
Published on April 28 2025
The report makes recommendations in relation to the procedures on debriefs for Northern Ireland Prison Service (Prison Service) and South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust (SEHSCT) staff following incidents and to the Prison Service on procedures for informing next of kin about a death in custody. These recommendations have been accepted. A previous recommendation relating to the use of the Night Custody Belt by Prison Service staff has also been noted in this report. In addition, the former Prisoner Ombudsman has written to the Commissioners of Healthcare in Prison on resourcing paramedics on-site overnight at Maghaberry Prison.
Mr O was committed into custody at Maghaberry Prison on 12 September 2020 following extradition from a French prison. At the time of Mr O’s committal, Maghaberry Prison operated quarantine facilities in Foyle House due to the Covid-19 pandemic. All new committals were quarantined in single cells and on a reduced regime for their first 14 days in custody. On committal Mr O was assessed, using the Supporting People At Risk Evolution procedure, as having ‘no apparent risk.’
At 02:59 on 28 September 2020 a supervised check was carried out and Mr O was found unresponsive. The alarm was raised and paramedics immediately made their way to his cell where they began cardiopulmonary resuscitation. At 03:09 the efforts to resuscitate ceased and Mr O’s death was confirmed. The cause of death is determined by a Coroner.
Speaking on the publication of the report into O’s death, the Interim Prisoner Ombudsman, Jacqui Durkin, offered her condolences to his family:
"The Covid-19 pandemic was a very difficult time for people committed to and working in prisons in Northern Ireland and prisoners in quarantine were spending long periods of time in their cell alone. Telling a parent about the death of their son under any circumstances is always difficult but when that death occurs in prison it has its own complexities and sensitivities. I offer my sincere condolences to Mr O’s family on their sad loss and I hope that this report helps to address some of the questions they have about his death”.
“The recommendations set out within this report can make improvements for Prison Service and SEHSCT staff in reviewing debrief procedures and how the Prison Service communicates with families at a time of great shock and sorrow. The resourcing of paramedics in Maghaberry Prison is a particularly important matter, which is why the former Prisoner Ombudsman raised this directly with the Commissioners of Healthcare in Prison.”
The Interim Ombudsman thanked the Prison Service, the SEHSCT, and others who had contributed to her investigation into Mr O's death.
The full report can be accessed here https://niprisonerombudsman.gov.uk/publications/death-in-custody
This report was at an advanced stage when the former Prisoner Ombudsman, Dr Lesley Carroll, ended her appointment term on 29 February 2024. On 25 March 2024 Jacqui Durkin, Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland, was appointed Interim Prisoner Ombudsman while the process for a new appointment for a substantive Prisoner Ombudsman is undertaken.
Further information:
Brendan Scott
MW Advocate
07834422923
brendan.scott@mwadvocate.com