Prison staff have been criticised for restraining a 74-year-old inmate as he lay “comatose” after suffering a brain haemorrhage.
Malcolm MacDougal was serving a life sentence at HMP Full Sutton in East Yorkshire when he was taken ill on 30 September 2024 after taking synthetic cannabis. He sibsequently died.
A Prisons and Probation Ombudsman report said it took staff 16 minutes to call an ambulance and the use of restraints “calls into question staff attitudes to affording dignity to those in a critical condition and reflects poorly on the prison”.
In a statement, the Prison Service said it had improved its emergency procedures and strengthened guidance on the use of restraints.
MacDougal was sentenced to life imprisonment for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm in July 1982.
He had spent time in several prisons and had been at HMP Full Sutton since December 2007.
According to the report, external, MacDougal was on a care plan to manage his blood pressure and also suffered from irregular heartbeat, musculoskeletal disorders, depression and personality disorder.
He also had a longstanding history of cannabis and alcohol misuse, the report said.
On 30 September 2024, MacDougal was found by a prison officer “lying on the floor in an unusual position” but was believed to be sleeping.
It was only after a supervisor intervened that a medical emergency was raised and staff called an ambulance.
The report noted the prisoner was escorted to hospital by guards using a “long chain with a handcuff at each end”, which was only taken off during a CT scan.
MacDougal was pronounced dead on the same day when doctors removed him from a ventilator.