An inquest jury has ruled that the death of a 41-year old prisoner was an ‘accident’ after he choked at HMP Dovegate in Uttoxter.
Kevin Lovatt, who was serving a sentence for burglary when the incident happened, died after he could not be resuscitated by officers or paramedics following a struggle.
During the inquest, Dovegate assistant director Charlotte Baker-Macdonald said: “The supply of substances into prisons is a massive issue. We did everything we could in terms of searching visitors and we still do now.
There’s only so much we can do in terms of searching visitors. We’d have to get the police to strip search visitors if we had any suspicions.
“Approximately 70 per cent of our new prisoners at that time were dependent on drugs or alcohol. Without a doubt the intention was to supply and there would have been a market for that.”
Source: Staffordshire Live