Saria Hart, from Stoke-on-Trent, was described as “a bubbly, cheeky girl who loved being around people… and who meant so much to all of us” by her mother following the woman’s inquest
A cleaner who lost her job and was stripped of half of her earnings left a heartbreaking note before she ended her own life, an inquest heard.
“I am done not being listened to anymore” Saria Hart, 26, penned in the message for the staff at the prison at which she was an inmate. A jury at the inquest found a “number of serious failings by the prison staff contributed to her death”.
The tragedy happened at HMP Foston Hall, on the Staffordshire-Derbyshire border, where Saria was placed on an Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) plan for inmates at risk of suicide or self-harm following an incident with prison staff. This saw her suspended from her job and placed in segregation. The ACCT plan included twice-hourly monitoring, the inquest was told.
But one day after being put on the plan, Saria was found unresponsive in her cell. She had, the jury heard, refused to hand over razor blades in her cell, twice handed staff a note expressing her desire to die, and had a history of self-harm. The jury delivered a suicide verdict on Friday.
Following the hearing, Mum Karen Brown said: “Saria was a bubbly, cheeky girl who loved being around people. We had our good days and our bad days like any other family, but she meant so much to all of us. We all miss her dearly and still think about her every day.
“We are still so hurt and angry that Saria died in circumstances where she was clearly begging for help and nobody took any notice. Five years on from Saria’s passing, the jury has confirmed what we have always known – that more should have been done to prevent Saria’s death.”
Lawyer Erica San, from Bhatt Murphy Solicitors, told Stoke-on-Trent Live: “A number of preventative and risk-reducing measures were available to the prison staff to manage Saria’s risk: a safer cell with fewer ligature points, constant observations, removal of certain dangerous items from her cell. Instead, prison staff ignored and dismissed Saria’s cries for help.
“The most recent HMIP inspection found that the response to women in crisis was ‘too reactive, uncaring and often punitive’. This was all too clear from the evidence heard at Saria’s inquest.”
The family, from Stoke-on-Trent, has been supported by campaign group INQUEST. Thirty-eight more women have died in UK prisons since Saria’s death.
Its senior caseworker Selen Cavcav said: “Saria’s last words to prison staff in a written note were: ‘I am done not being listened to anymore’. Will her words which were ignored during her last hours be heard now by the government, parliamentarians, and policy makers? Too many women like Saria have been ignored, disciplined, segregated and punished instead of being given the care they need and deserve.” Stoke-on-Trent Live and The Mirror has contacted HMP Foston Hall for a statement following the inquest verdict.
The Samaritans is available 24/7 if you need to talk. You can contact them for free by calling 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or head to the website to find your nearest branch. You matter.
