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

said about him and protests that he is not guilty. He says he has been “grassed up
bigtime” before “but never stitched up like this”.
Wednesday 26 August: Ms A telephones again
8.12 Ms A telephoned the prison again on Wednesday and left a message on the
chaplain’s answerphone. She would not have received Sonny’s letter from Tuesday
evening at that point. The message was picked up by Ms Lorimer, who was duty
chaplain for the day.
8.13 Ms Lorimer had come across Sonny Lodge before. She was Chair of a day
centre he had sometimes attended in Manchester and said she knew him vaguely by
sight. When Mr Lodge was in Manchester prison, the manager of the day centre, Ms
Stanway, visited him and asked Ms Lorimer to visit in her capacity as an assistant
chaplain. Ms Lorimer said Ms Stanway felt that Sonny Lodge was suicidal after the
hospital incident. Ms Stanway said she visited him on or about 4 August and this
prompted her to ask Ms Lorimer to see him. A letter from Mr Lodge refers to Ms Stanway
visiting on 5 August. However, Ms Lorimer told the inquest that her diary indicated she
visited Mr Lodge on 15 July.
8.14 Ms Lorimer has recently provided additional information at the inquiry’s request.
She said that when she visited Mr Lodge on this first occasion she was aware from Ms
Stanway that he had previously self-harmed but not that he had attempted suicide. They
had a conversation of about 12 minutes. Mr Lodge did not want to talk longer. He
appeared resigned to serving his sentence. His mood seemed flat but he made no
reference to being suicidal or to any bullying or violence and he did not talk about the
incident with the officer. Ms Lorimer said she did not try to force him to discuss matters
he was not ready to disclose. She was a trained and experienced counsellor and
commented that it was a principle of counselling that, whilst recognising the need to
identify risk, it is important to respect an individual’s need for privacy. Ms Lorimer said
she did not check at the time whether there was an open F2052SH for Mr Lodge. If she
had known that there was an F2052SH she would have made a note in it. At the inquest,
Ms Lorimer said she was not aware that Mr Lodge had been on F2052SH at
Manchester.
8.15 Ms Lorimer recalled that in reply to the message on 26 August she telephoned
Ms A who told her that Mr Lodge was depressed and low and wanted one of the
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