A JURY took more than two hours to reach a majority open verdict on the death of a prisoner at Erlestoke who was found dead in his cell.

David Lewis, 29, from Swansea, was found hanging from the window in his cell at 10.30pm on August 13 2001.

Mr Lewis was a known self-harmer who was reaching the end of his prison sentence.

The inquest in Chippenham on Friday raised questions as to whether he received enough care in the prison.

"I don't think the prison had enough help to give him. He obviously needed more help than he got," said Brian Ham, a former inmate.

Mr Lewis had led a life of petty crime and had been charged with 99 offences for theft and drug-related crimes.

He had been sent to Swansea prison in June 2001 to serve a seven-month sentence for theft.

Mr Lewis applied for a transfer to Erlestoke Prison and arrived there on July 20.

There he had his own cell and access to the part-time doctor. He was put into the buddy system and fellow inmate Mr Ham became his confidant.

On the day of his death, Mr Ham said Mr Lewis had been wandering around his cell as if he wanted to tell him something.

"I offered him a cup of tea and a chat but he said he was alright. He kept coming backwards and forwards all day," said Mr Ham.

Mr Lewis had been looking forward to going to the gym the next day, said Mr Ham.

Dr James Flood had been Mr Lewis' GP at Erlestoke and had kept regular appointments with him.

"He said he was pleased to be at Erlestoke and it was not long until his release. He was a pleasant young man," he said.

Joy Pickett, the prison's forensic psychologist, saw Mr Lewis on August 8 after he had self-harmed with a razor blade. "He said he did not feel suicidal. He said the self-harming was related to abuse he had suffered in the past. He was angry that he could not get anti-depressant medicine that he got at Swansea," she said.

Dr Flood also said Mr Lewis did not appear suicidal on the day of his death.

"He seemed to be coping. He was working in the contract shop and he felt he was improving," he said.

But Dr Flood did admit that the prison did not have the same kind of care as larger ones.

"We don't have full-time medical cover. We are dealing with a very vulnerable and sometimes unstable population. At the time of his death, we did not have a visiting community psychiatric nurse," said Dr Flood.

However, prison governor Claudia Stert said the jail would not accept prisoners with serious mental health problems because it did not have 24-hour medical supervision.

But investigator Raymond Johnson, who works for the prison service, admitted that if Mr Lewis had self-harmed on a previous prison sentence, Erlestoke prison staff would not have been informed. They would only have been told if he had self-harmed on his current prison sentence.

After his investigation, Mr Johnson made several recommendations to the prison that have now been put in place.

On reaching their verdict the jury supported Mr Johnson's recommendations in tightening up procedures.

These included having wardens checking the cells at irregular intervals so prisoners were not able to use time slots to harm themselves unnoticed.

When Mr Lewis was found with a torn bed sheet wrapped around his neck, staff had to run to the office to fetch scissors to cut him down.

Night staff now carry first aid packs with scissors so that they can respond quickly if they find a prisoner has tried to hang themselves.

A visiting community psychiatric nurse is now available to Erlestoke.

lcanter@newswilts.co.uk