Prisoners died in cells in same month - inquest

Three prisoners died in their cells at a Nottinghamshire prison in the space of one month, an inquest has heard.

Anthony Binfield, Rolandas Karbauskas and David Richards were all serving sentences at HMP Lowdham Grange when they were found dead in March 2023.

Lowdham Grange had been transferred from private provider Serco to Sodexo the month before the deaths, a jury at Nottingham Coroner's Court heard on Monday.

The joint inquest into the three men is expected to hear evidence until January.

Jurors were told Binfield had been sentenced in 2017, and arrived at Lowdham Grange, a Category B prison, in 2021.

The 30-year-old returned to the jail in November 2022 after a short spell at Wandsworth, and was found unresponsive in his cell at about 22:20 GMT on 6 March the following year.

On 13 March, Richards - who had served in Chelmsford before arriving at Lowdham on 24 February 2023 - was declared dead in his cell at about 14:10, just days before the 42-year-old was due to move from the prison's induction site to a normal wing.

A week later Karbauskas, 49, arrived at the jail, having served at HMP Lincoln since March 2022, but at 10:55 on 25 March he was also found and declared dead by paramedics.

Laurinda Bower, the hearing's coroner, said all three deaths were being examined together due to "similarities" in the manner and locations of the deaths.

"Anthony, David and Rolandas died while they were detained in state custody," she told the court.

"Each of the deceased died as a result of ligature asphyxiation."

The court heard responsibility for running the prison had been transferred from Serco to Sodexo on 16 February, the first time a prison had moved from one private contractor to another in the UK.

In December last year it was placed under the control of the Ministry of Justice, which confirmed earlier this year that the move would be permanent.

Ms Bower told jurors the inquest would look at the prison environment at the time of the deaths as part of the investigation.

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