AN INQUEST will start today to determine how an inmate at Lewes prison died.
Neville McNair died one day before his 52nd birthday in June 2018.
East Sussex County Council is holding an eight day inquest into the death at Hastings Coroner’s Court at Muriel Matters House.
It starts today at 10am.
The Prisons Service confirmed that they were opening an independent investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman into the death.
HMP Lewes, in East Sussex, is a category B men’s prison with a capacity of 617 inmates.
Its most recent inspection in 2016 found it was overcrowded, holding 640 prisoners, a “substantial number” of whom were awaiting trial or sentence.
A report by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons said more than a quarter of prisoners at Lewes reported feeling depressed or suicidal.
It also found some staff did not have anti-ligature knives and “could not assure us that they would act appropriately in the event of a serious self-harm incident."
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