Patryk Skupinski, 38, was serving a life sentence for murdering Marlene Doyle when he was found dead in his cell by another prisoner at HMP Gartree in Leicestershire
A convicted murderer serving a life sentence was discovered dead in his cell by a fellow inmate after a prison officer unlocked his door without carrying out a welfare check, a report has revealed.
The officer subsequently told investigators he was unaware he was required to conduct a welfare check, believing his sole responsibility was to unlock cell doors. Patryk Skupinski, 38, had been serving a life sentence at HMP Gartree, near Market Harborough, having been convicted of the murder of 32 year old Marlene Doyle. He was found lying face down in a pool of vomit by a fellow prisoner on 29 January 2025.
Ms Doyle was discovered with severe head injuries at their flat in Shakespeare Street, Coventry, after worried relatives raised the alarm when they were unable to contact her. Police confirmed she had been dead for up to five days before she was found reports Leicestershire Live.
A jury found Skupinski guilty of her murder, and he was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 21 years in October 2023. An independent report by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) has now outlined the full circumstances surrounding Skupinski’s death.
It began with a routine roll check at 5.07am, in which an operational support grade officer peered through the observation panel of Skupinski’s cell using a torch and was satisfied that nothing was amiss.
A further roll check was conducted at 7.13am, during which an officer failed to obtain a positive response from Skupinski or open his cell door, as required under prison policy. At approximately 7.58am, a separate officer unlocked Skupinski’s cell door for morning activities without checking on him, according to the report.
Roughly 20 minutes later, a fellow prisoner visited Skupinski’s cell to see whether he was ready to head to the workshop, only to find him unresponsive on his bed. He immediately raised the alarm. Prison staff rushed to the scene and discovered Skupinski lying face down in a pool of vomit. They placed him in the recovery position and began CPR after establishing he was not breathing.
Paramedics arrived at around 8.45am and observed that he had rigor mortis — the stiffening of the body that typically sets in roughly two to six hours after death. He was pronounced dead at 8.58am.
A post-mortem examination determined that Skupinski died from ischaemic heart disease combined with synthetic cannabinoid use. A tampered vape, commonly used to inhale illicit substances, was recovered from his cell following his death, the report stated.
An inquest held between 9 and 13 March 2026 resulted in a jury concluding that he died by misadventure, alongside an underlying heart condition. Given that paramedics observed rigor mortis upon their arrival, investigators concluded that Skupinski had almost certainly already died by the time of the 7.13am check.
When questioned about the later unlock, the officer stated he was unaware that a welfare check was required, insisting his sole responsibility was to unlock cell doors. Fellow officers also informed investigators they had no knowledge of any such policy. The deputy governor told investigators that managers would reissue the unlock policy to each member of staff, who would be required to sign to confirm they had read and understood it.
The prison has since updated its Local Security Strategy to mandate that staff open cell doors when they are unable to see the prisoner inside.
The report also scrutinised the response of healthcare staff once the alarm was raised. An independent clinical reviewer commissioned by NHS England established that naloxone, a drug used to counteract opioid overdoses, was not administered until ten minutes after healthcare staff arrived, and that only a single dose was given.
The reviewer noted this would have made no difference to the outcome, as Skupinski was already dead when discovered, but put forward three recommendations to the Head of Healthcare as a result.
Throughout his time behind bars, Skupinski had shown no signs of drug use. When he first arrived at HMP Hewell following his remand in January 2022, he informed staff he had no history of drug or alcohol misuse, and his prison record contained numerous positive entries from staff praising his good behaviour, the report noted.
He engaged positively with the prison regime and worked on the wing as a cleaner. He was moved to HMP Gartree on 31 October 2024 and took part in a substance misuse induction on 14 November, where he was cautioned about the risks of psychoactive substances, including synthetic cannabinoids and stronger opioids such as fentanyl and nitazenes, according to the PPO.
He consistently maintained that he did not take drugs and received an induction pack at the session’s conclusion. During the subsequent two months, staff noted that he was employed as a mentor in the prison workshop and attending every day.
The broader drug issue at Gartree also appeared in the report. HMP Gartree, which houses male prisoners predominantly serving life sentences, had identified drugs arriving via drones as a major continuing problem, the PPO stated.
The Independent Monitoring Board had expressed concerns in its latest annual report about the persistent infiltration of drugs and illicit items through various methods, observing that their prevalence was closely connected to levels of debt, violence and bullying at the facility.
The prison informed investigators it had commissioned a firm to install protective cages on windows to stop drones from delivering illicit items, with the project underway at the time of the report. Skupinski is the eleventh prisoner to die at Gartree since January 2022, the report confirmed.
The reviewer observed that Skupinski had no notable medical history and no known cardiac concerns. Skupinski’s mother, Hanna Skupinski, had previously been imprisoned for assisting an offender along with three others following her son’s killing of Ms Doyle.
Detectives revealed that friends and family had sheltered Skupinski for several days after the murder, with his mother making enquiries about helping him flee the country. Following his death in custody, the prison was unable to reach her as she had already been released and deported to Poland.
The prison appointed a family liaison officer who worked through the Polish Consulate in Manchester to locate Skupinski’s brother, who was subsequently informed of his sibling’s death. Polish authorities later arranged for Skupinski’s remains to be returned to Poland, according to the report.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “HMP Gartree has reviewed its morning check process and is ensuring all staff are aware of its welfare check policy. We have invested over £40 million in new prison security nationally, including £10 million on anti-drone measures, to clamp down on contraband.”
