Nothing extra could have been done to prevent the death of a Dundee man in Perth Prison, a sheriff has ruled.
Simon Stewart killed himself in his cell on September 18, 2018.
The 30-year-old, of Lansdowne Court, was found by prison officers while he was on remand awaiting trial.
A Fatal Accident Inquiry was held before Sheriff Gillian Wade and her report has been released.
She concluded: “I have observed that there is always room for improvement and there are always lessons to be learnt.
“I am satisfied that the strategy had worked to identify that the deceased may be in need of input from the mental health team and that he received that care timeously.
“The fact that he did not engage or comply with the regime did not help those who were doing their best to assist him.
“In short looking at the evidence as a whole I do not consider that there were any further reasonable precautions which if taken would have had a realistic prospect of preventing this death.”
The inquiry heard Stewart, a habitual offender and regular inmate at the prison, was thought to have schizophrenia.
He was on a regimen of anti-psychotic drugs but did not present with mental health issues when he was placed in custody so was referred to the Substance Misuse Team.
Issues were raised with mental health however and he remained under relatively close watch.
Did not present with thoughts of suicide
An NHS Tayside Consultant in Forensic Psychiatry, referred to in the report as Doctor NH, who provided a weekly psychiatric clinic in the prison, was quoted as a witness in the report.
Sheriff Wade stated: “Having reviewed the notes and records and with the benefit of hindsight the witness concluded that there was nothing which he would have done differently in this case.
“He concluded that he did not believe that was there anything that he or the MHT could have reasonably done to prevent the deceased’s suicide.
“He added that often the people who die through suicide in prison do not present with any thoughts of suicide or self-harm.
“They are typically the people are considered to be at low risk of suicide as, if the risk was higher measures would have been taken to manage the risk.
“His view is that we will never know what caused the deceased to take his own life. There may have been factors other than mental illness.”
‘Unusually positive’ the day before
She added: “The feedback from his peers was that he was unusually positive on the day prior to his death.
“There is anecdotal evidence that people planning to kill themselves can sometimes appear more cheerful than normal shortly before their deaths.
“People have speculated that this may be because the individual has reconciled themselves to a solution to managing their longer term distress.”
Stewart was due to appear in court to face four charges in connection with offences allegedly committed in June in Ancrum Place.
He was due to face charges that he attacked 74-year-old Yvonne Cullen, as well as robbing her of possessions.
Stewart was also accused of breaking into the home of an 84-year-old man and robbing him of money and a bank card.
Prosecutors also accused Stewart of restoring the electricity supply at his home which had been cut off, by bypassing a meter box.
Terrifying raid
Yvonne, a retired taxi driver, said at the time: “I had been at the casino and got a lift home about midnight and was in bed about 1am.
“All of a sudden I became aware of somebody in the house. The bedroom leads into the living room and the door was shut.
“I heard the door opening and shouted, ‘Who’s that?’
“There was no answer, but then the next thing he was in the room, sat on my chest in my bed and asked me for my bank card and pin.
“His face was just a few inches from mine and he said to me, ‘I have Aids’.
“I could feel his breath on me, it was terrifying. He straddled me with his legs on my ribs and grabbed my wrists. He was wearing gloves.
“All sorts of things go through your head. You don’t know if they’ll attack you or rape you or what.”
