Deaf prisoner who committed suicide ‘spent almost a month in prison without his hearing aid’

In a case that shines a spotlight on the problems that deaf people face in the prison system, the BBC has reported the mother of a deaf prisoner saying that her son ‘would still be alive if not for the failures of prison staff.’

Tyrone Givans, who was 32, killed himself at HMP Pentonville on 26 February 2018 after spending three weeks on remand accused of Actual Bodily Harm.

Givans had mental health and alcohol problems. In one of the startling details released at the inquest, it was revealed that he had had spent nearly a month in prison without his hearing aid.

The BBC article says:

Mr Givans’ mother Angela Augustin told the BBC that her son was a calm and humble young man.

“He was always bubbly and smiling – when people saw Tyrone they would just see this big massive smile,” she said.

Mr Givans was being held on remand at the north London prison – but threatened to kill himself before he arrived.

The prisoner’s mental health issues and suicidal ideations were insufficiently addressed by the prison and healthcare services, Mary Elizabeth Hassell, senior coroner for inner north London said.

At the hearing, a number of prison staff accepted they should have opened suicide and self-harm monitoring procedures had they known of his history of suicidal ideation.

Read the full article here.