Inquest told of wait for Stoke Heath cell death back-up

Staff at Shropshire's young offender institution waited for back-up before opening a teenager's cell door after discovering him hanging inside, an inquest heard.

Officials from HMPYOI Stoke Heath, near Market Drayton, told the second day of the inquest on Michael Cartwright they took the step because sometimes inmates would fake suicide attempts to fool or attack staff who responded.

Giving evidence in Wem yesterday Sonia Busby, a member of prison staff who was on patrol the night Cartwright was found, said she spotted the 18-year-old on his knees with a ligature around his neck when she peered through the cell window.

She told the hearing she alerted colleagues by radio but decided not to go in until they arrived, even though she had a master key, which would have enabled her to do so.

She said she was 'not sure' if the scene before her was genuine so she put the key in the lock ready to open the door when help arrived.

Prison officers, healthcare staff and a paramedic, who arrived soon afterwards, rushed to the cell with a defibrillator and other emergency kit for patients who have stopped breathing.

The defibrillator was attached to Cartwright's body but never used, while staff performed chest compressions and gave him an adrenaline shot, which eventually re-started his heart.

Nurse Margaret Clark said: "Michael had a blue tinge to his face and there was no rising of his chest. He looked lifeless."

Fellow nurse Carol Lewis said: "He was in respiratory arrest and I noticed his pupils were dilated. I think it was probably the adrenaline that brought him back."

On Tuesday, the hearing was told Cartwright, from Bentilee, Stoke-on-Trent, had tried to take his own life in custody at Stoke Heath before.

The inquest continues.