The family of a man who died in his prison cell has said they are 'frustrated' and 'upset' at the 'failures' leading up to his death.

Bradleigh Trevor Barnes' family said 'he would still be with us' if he had been 'properly supported' during his time at HMP Portland.

Mr Barnes, from Poole, was found dead in his cell, aged 23, at HMP Portland on December 28, 2019, just 25 days after being referred to the prison's mental health team.

The family said they are 'devastated' by his death and described him as "devoted to us as a family, reliable and always true."

They said: "(Bradleigh was) always putting people first, keeping them happy. He was our guardian angel - always there when we needed him."

Practice Plus Group (PPG), healthcare provider to the prison, accepted that a mental health assessment was not conducted within the timeframes recommended, and that the primary care nurse present when Mr Barnes' was forcibly removed from his cell on December 23 erroneously input her medical entries onto the record of another prisoner.

It was ruled that these shortcomings did not cause or contribute to Mr Barnes' death.

The family of Mr Barnes say they are frustrated by the fact the prison chose to make no formal admissions of failures in their final submissions to the inquest despite, what they described as, 'candid admissions of mistakes and failures' during the evidence that the inquest heard.

They said: "(We) know that if Bradleigh had been properly supported at HMP/YOI Portland, he would have taken up that support and he would still be with us today."

Mr Barnes' family added: “We have been devastated by the loss of Bradleigh, which has only been made worse by the three year wait for his inquest and to hear prison officers and healthcare staff admit in the witness box how badly they failed Bradleigh.

"While we appreciate the Senior Coroner is applying the law as it stands today, it is frustrating and upsetting that after all this time the jury have been deprived of an opportunity to properly record those failures and deliver their conclusion.”

The inquest had previously heard how a healthcare representative had not been present during an Assessment, Care and Custody Teamwork (ACCT) case review just a few days before Mr Barnes' death - something Governor Ian Beckett, head of offender management at HMP Portland, and Mrs Lisa Turner, regional manager for PPG, agreed was 'a missed opportunity'.

Jurors also heard from David Doctor, current custodial manager at HMP Portland, who said there were "very high" incidents of self harm at HMP Portland at the time, leading to an "average" of 35-40 open ACCTs "at any time".

He said: "With those sort of numbers the quality was always going to be poor."

Governor Becket, Mrs Turner and Mr Doctor said 'thorough' and 'robust' changes had been made to procedures since Mr Barnes' death.

A coroner ruled Mr Barnes' cause of death was 'ligature suspension' whilst the jury at the inquest delivered a verdict of suicide.