Overview
- The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman report says David Lancaster, 42, was found hanging at his Hartlepool home on 30 November 2022 and was pronounced dead by paramedics.
- A post-mortem concluded death by hanging, and toxicology showed a cocaine level in the range associated with fatality.
- He was released from HMP Durham on 28 November after admitting criminal damage and harassment at Teesside Magistrates' Court and receiving a suspended sentence with a community order.
- On remand, prison staff initiated suicide and self-harm prevention procedures; he later told staff he felt safer in custody and had no current thoughts of self-harm, despite diagnoses of PTSD, depression and anxiety and a history of attempts.
- The PPO found no issues of concern in custody care and said there was little to indicate a heightened suicide risk in the period leading up to his death.