Prisoner found in cell at HMP Garth took his own life, rules inquest jury
Patrick Clayton, a Lancashire prisoner, was found hanged in his HMP Garth Prison cell
An inquest jury has ruled that a Lancashire prisoner killed himself in his cell.
Patrick Clayton, who was serving a life sentence, was found hanged at Garth Prison, near Leyland, in September 2024.
The 29-year-old died in hospital the following day.
Senior Lancashire coroner Chris Long held a six-day inquest with a jury at County Hall, Preston.
The jury recorded a narrative conclusion, saying they felt sure that Mr Clayton "had taken steps to end his own life."
The hearing was told that Mr Clayton was restrained and put into his cell on the segregation unit after becoming abusive and threatening staff.
He was "agitated" after failing to make a video call with his children.
After being locked up, his cell bell designed to alert prisoner officers was activated. But no staff saw it, and it was switched off by another inmate.
Mr Clayton was found around 30 minutes later.
Despite desperate attempts to revive him by staff and paramedics, he died the following day in Royal Preston Hospital.
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The jury heard that Mr Clayton had little chance of survival as he had been unresponsive for 16 minutes before paramedics arrived.
Questions were asked at the inquest about the practice of allowing a "trusted" prisoner to answer the cell bells when activated. The inmate who answered it said he spoke to Mr Clayton through the cell door and he seemed reassured.
Prison officers - who said they were short staffed and extremely busy at the time - said they would have checked on Mr Clayton if they had known he had activated the bell.
Otherwise they were giving him time to "cool down" after becoming agitated.
He had not voiced any intention to harm himself.
Coroner Mr Long said he had decided not to make a Prevention of Future Death report after being assured by prison staff that changes had been made to working practices.
Inmates were now disciplined about the improper use of cell bells, and the sole prisoner who answered Mr Clayton's bell had been told not to do it again.
Mr Long said he would be keeping a close eye on future events to ensure that those changes were adhered to.