Prisoner with terminal cancer died on way to hospital when ambulance got 'trapped' at jail gates

Guy Clifton Paget, aged 73, of Fledburgh Drive, Sutton Coldfield, was a serving prisoner at HMP Leeds who was jailed for 14 years in 2017 after being found guilty for the second time of conspiring to supply Class A drugs.

He was diagnosed with terminal cancer of the oesophagus.

On March 16 at around 1pm, Paget was found in a confused state in his cell in the prison's hospital wing.

Clinicians decided he should be taken to an outside hospital for treatment and an ambulance was called.

While trying to leave the prison, the ambulance was delayed due to incorrect paperwork at the prison gate.

The gate also malfunctioned and could not be opened, which further delayed the journey to hospital.

In the time the vehicle was trapped, Paget's condition deteriorated and he was pronounced dead at 3.06pm in the ambulance.

Kevin McLoughlin, senior coroner for the coroner area of West Yorkshire (East), concluded Paget died from natural causes due to oesophageal cancer and urinary sepsis - but he added the ambulance had been 'effectively trapped at the prison gate'.

In a Prevention of Future Deaths report sent to the Justice Secretary and the Governor of Leeds Prison, Mr McLoughlin says there is a risk of further deaths unless action is taken.

He stated that the prison should have an effective system to allow the exit of an emergency vehicle and that prison managers the necessary authorisation should be prepared as a matter of urgency for such emergencies.

“It is foreseeable that prisons nationally will need to admit paramedics and ambulance vehicles to attend to prisoners at times of emergency and may need to leave with the prisoner in the ambulance,” he said.

“An efficient system to manage this process is essential in order that serving prisoners are provided with an equivalent level of care to that which they could expect in the community.”

The authorities have until June 17 to respond to the coroner’s comments.