THESE are the seven inmates that have died while serving sentences in HMP Ford.

Men have died of suicide, drug overdoses and health problems while doing time at the Category D men's prison, located at Ford near Arundel.

Last year, a report from the prison watchdog found that the jail was "certainly not decent or humane".

Now The Argus can reveal a number of deaths at the prison in recent years.

The information comes from the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) which lists inmates who passed while serving their time.

Final reports are published on the PPO website once they have been shared with the family of the deceased, and a coroner’s inquest has taken place.

Many of the names have been removed to protect the privacy of the individuals concerned.

For deaths after March 1, 2015, the name of the deceased remains in the report, but other names have been anonymised. 

These are the seven men revealed to have died at the prison, which has housed thousands of inmates since it opened in 1960:

William O’Donaghue - heart attack

O’Donaghue died of a heart attack caused by coronary artery disease on June 18, 2019, while a prisoner at HMP Ford.

The 43-year-old had Type 2 diabetes at the time, which was ruled to have contributed to but did not cause his death.

The Argus:

A report by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman found his condition was 'poorly manged' and nurses did not bring his high blood pressure to the attention of a prison GP.

When O’Donaghue had a heart attack and was taken to hospital, officers did not consider informing his wife until after his death.

A 43-year-old man - epilepsy

The man was serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection and had been a prisoner at Ford open prison since November 2013.

He had suffered from epilepsy since he was 13 years old and was mostly controlled by medication.

When he experienced fits, it was usually because he had forgotten to take his medication.

But at the time of his death, he had been released from Ford temporarily to spend three nights at The Pines as part of his preparation for release.

On the night of 28 May, he returned from spending the day with his uncle, who rang the next morning and told staff that his nephew had left his medication behind.

Staff went to look for him, but found him dead in the bath. His death was from epilepsy.

A 51-year-old man - lung disease

The prisoner was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1993 and transferred to Ford in 2013.

He had been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease many years before and, by the time he arrived at Ford, he was severely ill.

The man was admitted to hospital a number of times as his health deteriorated. His last admission in December 2013 lasted three weeks and he was told that only palliative care was possible.

Healthcare staff at the prison put in place end of life plans after discussion with the man.

On 24 January, a prison officer found the man unresponsive in his room. In line with the man’s wishes, he did not attempt resuscitation.

A 35-year-old man - suicide

The man, who had absconded from HMP Ford on December 17, 2013, was found dead in a public toilet.

He had received a ten months suspended sentence in April 2013 and was jailed in October when he failed to comply with the conditions.

In December, the man appears to have been upset that he had been turned down for release on temporary licence and thought he was also unlikely to get released early under the home detention curfew scheme.

On the evening of December 16, 2013, he told his roommate that he had taken some heroin earlier that afternoon and that he intended to abscond from the prison.

The next morning he was missing. He was later found hanged in Bournemouth four days later.

A 31-year-old man - overdose

The prisoner had been released on home leave from Ford when he was found dead in the street one morning in February 2013.

There had been no recorded problems on his previous periods of home leave but before he left, the prison received intelligence that he might bring drugs back to the prison.

But it was decided that the information was not significant enough to deny the man his home leave as there was no indication that he had used drugs in prison.

A post-mortem examination indicated that he died of morphine poisoning combined with the effects of alcohol.

A 31-year-old man - fatal toxicity

In September 2006, the 31-year-old was found dead in his room during the late morning roll check.

The man had misused drugs and alcohol, and had a complicated history of mental health problems, which were diagnosed shortly before he entered custody.

As his mental health appeared to have stabilised by the time he went to HMP Wandsworth he did not receive his prescribed medication but was seen regularly by the mental health team.

When he transferred to HMP Ford, the man’s mental health was beginning to show signs of deterioration.

However, this was quickly addressed by the prison’s GP and primary mental healthcare nurse.

According to the report by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, he had died as a result of fatal toxicity. A police investigation ruled out any suspicious circumstances.

A 71-year-old man - pneumonia

At a hospital and while serving a life sentence at HMP Ford, the 71-year-old died from pneumonia on September 23 2004.

On 21 September 2004, the man consulted prison Healthcare with an upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), which the doctor treated with paracetamol.

Within 24 hours, the man’s condition deteriorated significantly and he was transferred to hospital, where he died two days later.