Man took his life in jail ‘in state of starvation’ after being left without food for 48 hours

Lack of food and medicine were ‘contributing factors’ in Winston Augustine’s death, inquest finds

Winston Augustine died on 30 August 2018 at HMP Wormwood Scrubs. (Family Handout )

The failure of prison staff to provide a 43-year-old man with food and medicine over a 48-hour period contributed to his death at a London prison, an inquest has ruled.

Winston Augustine took his own life at HMP Wormwood Scrubs on 30 August 2018, two days after he was transferred to a segregation unit.

During these 48 hours, he did not receive any food and was not able to exercise, shower or make a phone call.

Despite suffering chronic pain from kidney stones, Augustine only received one dose of low-level pain relief in the two days leading up to his death.

At the time of his death, Augustine was in a state of ketoacidosis - suggestive of starvation - and is thought to have been in severe pain, as he had been deprived of his daily dose of the strong painkiller Tramadol.

At the end of a 10-day inquest in west London, an eight person jury decided that the failure to provide food and medication “were contributing factors towards his death”.

Among its other conclusions, it also determined that there had been inadequate supervision and welfare checks in the hours before his death.

The coroner described the matter as being of “greatest concern”, adding that the deceased’s dignity had been violated by not being given food for so long.

The prison’s then head of safer custody had earlier told the inquest that she had been “amazed” and “horrified” to learn on 31 August 2018 that Augustine had not been fed. She went on to describe the failures as“wrongdoing”, saying that “in every prison in the country men and women are offered three meals a day”.

Prison officers had claimed it was unsafe to open his cell door to give him food or medicines, as he was judged to be non-compliant.

Wormwood Scrubs has said that improvements were made to its services in the segregation unit following Augustine’s death.

Speaking on behalf of Augustine’s family, Diane Martin, his cousin, described him as a “loving and caring” person and said he would be greatly missed.

“It shouldn’t have taken Winston’s death for things to be rewritten. Policies should have been in place and carried out correctly,” she added.

Tim Lloyd, a lawyer from Matthew Gold & Co. who represented the family, said: “The evidence and the jury’s conclusions paint a grim picture of a dysfunctional unit marked by a basic lack of care and dignity.”

Meanwhile, Deborah Coles, director of the charity INQUEST, said: “Prison staff lost sight of Winston’s humanity and of their duty to keep him safe.”