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

HCOs advised staff to loosen their hold and leave him on the floor. HCOs checked him.
He seemed to have a small fit and came out of it quickly. They decided to check him in
the hospital wing rather than move him straight to the segregation unit. Staff helped him
to stand and he walked without restraint. During the move he saw an officer from the
incident and began shouting and pointing. A nurse checked him. HCO Harrison was due
off duty at 2000 and left.
10.32 Nurse Stanley told the Prison Service investigators that he saw Sonny Lodge
when he arrived at the Healthcare Centre. He was fully conscious and did not complain
of any injuries. His blood pressure was slightly raised and his vital signs were OK. Nurse
Stanley was happy for him to walk to segregation.
10.33 In a statement for the inquest, Nurse Paterson said she was asked to check
blood pressure, pulse and pupil reactions on Sonny Lodge, who was suspected to have
had a fit. She found BP at 150/100 and pulse at 100 per minute, which were both a little
high, and symptoms that could be expected in someone who recently had a fit. His pupil
reaction was normal not sluggish but she said this reaction returns quickly after fit.
Sonny Lodge said he had had a fit but could not say how long it lasted. He said he had
not hurt himself. A mark on his forehead seemed to be an old graze and did not appear
to need treatment.
Records of the incident
10.34 An entry in the inmate medical record states:
“Inmate C and R’d from G wing. Involved in altercation with staff. Not actually C and R’d.
Staff concerned re physical response. ? Loss of conscious. When observed full recovery,
not confused or post ictal. No confusion BP 150/100 P90. Transfer to seg unit. MO
informed.”
10.35 This entry appears immediately beneath HCO Stell’s entry about Ms A’s
telephone call on 25 August (see paragraph 8.5 above). The date appears to have been
amended from 28 to 27 August. It is not clear from the record when the entry was made
or by whom. However, it appears that the entry was made before HCO Harrison went off
duty. HCO Harrison told the Prison Service Investigation that his colleague, Nurse
Stanley, asked HCO Williams to get Mr Lodge’s medical records, that staff referred to it
back in the office and Mr Stanley made the entry in the Inmate Medical Record. HCO
Harrison remembered that when his colleagues were reading through it back in the office
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