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PRISON INQUIRY - SONNY LODGE
Sonny Lodge died by his own hand in the segregation unit of Manchester Prison on the 28th August 1998 aged 28 years old. He had been due for release that very day but remained in Prison remanded on a charge of assaulting a Prison Officer. There were many unfortunate and contributory circumstances which lead to this tragedy.
The purpose of the inquiry was to establish the truth of what actually happened prior to this young man’s death, who should be accountable and what lessons could be learned by the Prison Authorities and the Ministry of Justice to prevent such tragedies happening in the future. Sonny had a history of self harm and mental illness and the inquiry found that there was a systematic failure to protect Sonny in the last days of his life.
Chris Topping partner at Jackson & Canter LLP was the Solicitor to the inquiry which broke new legal ground.
There had been an inquest and a prison service internal investigation into this man’s sad death, the Ombudsman had also investigated, however the family had remained dissatisfied with the standard of those investigations. In order to avoid litigation in the European Court of Human Rights the family and the Ministry of Justice agreed that there should be an independent investigation. This in itself was a highly unusual step, what was more unusual is that the Chair, Barbara Stow, decided to dispense with instructing Counsel and used Chris as the only legal representation she had throughout the investigation and the public hearings in Manchester. The case took on greater significance when one of the witnesses refused to co-operate and as a result the investigation was converted into a statutory inquiry under the rarely used Inquiry Act 2005.
Chris says “I was pleased to be appointed as solicitor to such an inquiry. Had the Human Rights Act been in force at the time of Sonny Lodge’s death then there would have been no investigation similar to this. I found it highly significant as a human rights lawyer, that the Inquiry was able to ensure that the human rights of someone who had died an untimely death were recognised. My hope is that the Inquiry has provided helpful guidance and recommendations for those who continue to work within the prison service.”
The report of the enquiry was laid before Parliament on the 15th December and is published by the Ministry of Justice under reference HC127.and full text of the report is available on line here
For further information please contact Chris Topping ctopping@jacksoncanter.co.uk
Publish date: 12th December 2010
