Report of the Inquiry into the circumstances of the Death of Bernard ...

fact that, as he sees it, injustice meted out by some prison officers denies him contact
with his girlfriend, but most of all release to go home, and, perhaps, as a result, his
relationship and all hope, seems to be what distressed him most acutely.
18.19 Dr Wright was asked whether Sonny Lodge might perceive that he was being
victimised without that being either a consequence of mental illness or objectively
justified. In other words that the officers might be using their authority appropriately but
their actions interpreted by Sonny Lodge as victimising. Dr Wright confirmed that this
was possible and commented that once somebody feels victimised there is an
“amplification” of their emotions such that any small trigger is magnified.
18.20 Dr Wright noted that at the adjudication Mr Lodge presented as ”resigned”. Dr
Wright took that to indicate a sense of powerlessness. He concluded that in the final
week of Sonny Lodge’s life his relationship to those in authority over him was acting
against his health. Referring to his sense of injustice about not being released, then
being subject to a cell search, then the rules being put on the wall, Dr Wright said it gave
a sense of how somebody could feel there was no way they would be able to fight.
Findings
18.21 I find that:
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Some prison officers may have spoken to Sonny Lodge about the incident at
Whiston Hospital but I have found no evidence of prison officers conspiring to
victimise him because of it.
Repeated loss of association through the unfair wing-based disciplinary system
increased Sonny Lodge’s isolation, from support inside the prison and through
family contact, and his alienation from prison staff. This may have contributed to
deterioration in his behaviour, evoking increasingly authoritarian responses from
staff.
Sonny Lodge’s sense of victimisation may have been exaggerated but it was not
without foundation. It had a harmful effect on his state of mind.