THE suicide of a mentally unwell inmate at Chelmsford Prison was caused by serious failings in prison and mental health service, an inquest has concluded.

Dean Saunders, 25, from Basildon, was found electrocuted in his cell at HMP Chelmsford in January 2016.

A jury concluded the father-of-one killed himself while “the balance of his mind was disturbed, and the cause of death was contributed by neglect”, at Chelmsford Coroner’s Court on Friday (January 20).

Speaking after the verdict, the family said: “We have heard Dean’s death was predictable, and it was predicted by us.

“We have heard that £10 million is to be shared between prisons, and we know in our bitter experience you can’t put a price on life.

“I’m hoping we can get this out there as much as we can.

“I don’t want another family to go through this.”

Echo:

Dean’s mother Donna added: “I’m so grateful that someone has listened to us, much too late in the day. But someone has listened.

Mark, Dean’s father concluded: “I can’t describe how much I miss him.

“We will do everything we can to make changes, we will endeavour to make sure any changes get put in place.”

The jury of 11 unanimously concluded "financial considerations" were made in deciding to downgrade Mr Saunders from continuous watch to half-hourly observations.

The jury reached the decision after listening to evidence from police officers, prison staff, healthcare professionals and prisoner governor Steve Rodford.

Echo:

Mr Saunders was arrested after stabbing his father and brother, before attempting to turn a knife on himself.

The inquest heard he was most likely suffering from paranoid psychosis.

When the conclusion was revealed, the family could be seen crying and hugging one another.

Caroline Beasley-Murray, senior coroner for Essex told the family: “You have not only lost a much loved family member, you had the ordeal of sitting through the inquest.

“You have done this with understated dignity.”

Echo:

DEAN Gary Saunders died by self-inflicted electric shock at HMP Chelmsford on January 4 2016, the jury decided.

They added: “The head of healthcare treated financial considerations as a significant reason to reduce the level of observations.

“HMP Chelmsford’s response to the family was inadequate.

They went on that there was an absence of clinical leadership in the healthcare wing and confusion regarding the head of healthcare’s qualifications by members of staff.

They continued: “There was a total lack of logic regarding the level of risk ascribed to Dean’s situation and consequent level of observation.

“There was a failure to transfer Dean to a medical facility.

“The mental health assessment at Basildon police Station was not adequate due to a failure to pass information pertinent to Dean’s mental state and its risk.

“Dean Saunders and his family were let down by serious failings in both mental health care and the prison system.”