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

commit suicide and he said no. She decided to keep her concerns within the chaplains’
team. At the end of the conversation she told Sonny that a chaplain would visit him the
next day so he was aware that support was continuing.
8.18 Ms Lorimer told the inquest that when she left Sonny Lodge she did not think he
was at risk of self-harm. In her recent statement to the inquiry, Ms Lorimer said that the
confidence she was keeping was Sonny’s feelings of injustice, not any feelings of selfharm.
If she had thought there was a sufficient self-harm risk she would have shared that
with the discipline staff through the F2052SH process. She knew how to open an
F2052SH and frequently did so and she had gone to see Sonny Lodge with an open
mind, trying to offer support and help. Mr Lodge’s concern was about being re-arrested
on release, not about events at Manchester. He said he was not under any pressure on
the wing. He had a sense of injustice about the Risley officer apparently taking a private
prosecution. He expressed emotion about the death of a son.
8.19 Back in the chaplains’ office, Ms Lorimer arranged for Church Army Captain
Palmer, to visit Mr Lodge next day, when he would be duty chaplain. Mr Johnson, the
coordinating chaplain, was also in the office at the time. Ms Lorimer recalled that she
talked to her colleagues about how depressed Mr Lodge was and about his concern
about the Risley incident and desire to remain anonymous on G wing. She told the
inquiry that the chaplains were a close-knit team and shared information in a variety of
ways. The emphasis was on oral handovers but at some point a pastoral book and blue
files were introduced in which they highlighted concerns. Ms Lorimer could not recall
when they were introduced but she said that the fact that no papers had come to light
about Sonny might suggest they were not in use at the time. For herself, Ms Lorimer
kept notes in a diary. The Chaplain’s Journal recorded statistics, formal applications and
actions taken as part of the chaplains’ statutory duties. Mr Johnson told the inquiry the
pastoral book was introduced later but was not widely used. He believed the blue files
must have been introduced after he left the Prison Service in July 2001.
Wednesday evening
8.20 On Wednesday 26 August, Mr Lodge wrote to his girlfriend that he did not expect
bail from the application his solicitor had made to a judge in chambers. He says he is “as
good as hanged so it means another six to eight weeks” and then he hopes he will be
home “where I belong”. He says his “head is…battered” but there is nothing he can do
about it so he just has to “get on with it again”.
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