'Thorough' and 'robust' changes have been made following the death of a prisoner at HMP Portland, the jury at an inquest has been told.

An ongoing inquest into the death of Bradleigh Trevor Barnes, who died at HMP Portland on December 28, 2019, heard evidence from Governor Ian Beckett - head of offender management at the prison - relating to the prevention of future deaths.

The inquest was told that an 'accommodation fabric check' (ACF) was unable to be carried out in Mr Barnes' cell leading up to his death - ACFs saw walls, floors and ceilings of cells checked - due to the officer responsible being called away to another incident.

It was suggested to Governor Beckett that this was a 'missed opportunity' to identify a potentially unsecured bed in Mr Barnes' cell.

Governor Beckett said it should have been secured, but that he 'wouldn't say it was a missed opportunity because officers aren't expected to check for hoarding of items' that could be used as a ligature or barricade.

He said: "In the last two years, the direction is that furniture must be secured to the floor. HMP Portland is going through a process of replacing the furniture."

He said furniture had been replaced in all but one wing and that 'the reassurance is that measures are in place' in the outstanding wing until the furniture can be replaced.

The inquest also heard extracts from a Prison and Probation Ombudsman report following the previous death of a prisoner at HMP Portland in September 2016.

The report recommended, among other things, that a healthcare representative attended first case reviews of Assessment, Care and Custody Teamwork (ACCT) plans and prompts be put on ACCT documents.

An ACCT is a document that can be opened by any member of staff at a prison which triggers an ‘immediate action plan’ over welfare concerns.

This recommendation was accepted by the prison: a healthcare representative was not present at Mr Barnes' ACCT case review prior to his death.

He said ACCTs had subsequently been 'overhauled' and aimed at reducing the stigma attached to an ACCT. He said the document itself had been changed 'significantly' to 'provide better guidance' to officers.

Governor Beckett said following these conclusions, more than 200 members of staff had been trained in suicide and self harm prevention (SASH) and healthcare and prison officers were now working 'collaboratively'.

Mr Barnes was moved from a 'safer-style' cell - aimed at making designed to make self-harm and suicide as difficult as possible - on December 26, 2019.

Governor Beckett said, at the time, 'there was no requirement' that ACCT reviews took place prior to an offender moving out of a safer cell.

Governor Beckett added it was 'now an expectation' that reviews take place before moving prisoners out of a safer cell.

Summing up will take place on Thursday.

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