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

H wing: 25 July to 1 August
7.37 In a letter, Sonny says he was told he was going to K wing and arrived there but
was then told he was moving to H. He said he did not know what was going on but at
least he was only going to be there for seven days.
7.38 In another letter, on 25 July, Mr Lodge says he has been in front of the governor
and now needs to “keep his nose clean” and promises to “keep his head down”. He says
he hopes the staff leave him alone “but that won’t happen”. In a letter of 25 July to his
sister, Mr Lodge says he has not been getting his head down, but only because the
officers have been “pushing me around” trying to provoke him “because of when I
assaulted that screw in outside hospital”.
7.39 Mr Lodge was on H wing from 25 July to 1 August. A history sheet entry for
Sunday 26 July says that he was removed from the exercise yard for being abusive to a
dog handler. Mr Lodge’s version is that he “got taken off exercise ‘cos some of the lads I
was with were taking the piss out of a german. Got banged up. Then two minutes later
two germans come in threatening to kick fuck out of me, but nothing come of it, just got
warning.” He wrote that he had been told he would be back on E wing on Friday and
couldn’t wait. He was “missing his telly and his tunes”. (In common with many prisoners,
Sonny Lodge often referred to prison officers as ‘germans’ or ‘screws’.)
The day centre manager’s evidence
7.40 The manager of a day centre in Manchester that Sonny had attended was aware
of his self-harm at Risley and the incident at Whiston. When she learned that he was in
Manchester prison she arranged to visit. She recalled in her statement for the Inquest
that this was on or about 4 August and that, after the visit, concerned for Sonny’s
welfare, she asked the Methodist chaplain at the prison to visit him. The chaplain
recalled it as being earlier, and that she visited Sonny on about 15 July. The chaplain
said she was not aware that Sonny Lodge had been on an F2052SH at Manchester and
said that if she had known that he was on an open F2052SH when she visited she would
have made a note in it. The day centre manager said Sonny told her that he believed his
reputation for assaulting a prison officer had followed him. She said Sonny told her that
when he arrived at Manchester an officer told him that if he did not behave he would be
“bounced off all four walls”.
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