Watchdog slams prison over death of Leigh rapist just days after he was jailed for life

Only five days after sentence was passed on Vasilie Nastase for sex attacks on two women he met at Leigh nightclubs, he was found covered in blood in his cell from a wound to his neck.

Hours later the Romanian national was dead, the jury at at his recent inquest ruling that his wound was self-inflicted but that the effect it had was fatally exacerbated by an underlying heart condition.

But a report has now been published by the acting Prison and Probation Ombudsman, Kimberley Bingham, in which HMP Forest Bank, where 49-year-old Nastase was incarcerated in August 2019, comes in for severe criticism about inadequate concern for his mental state after learning his fate.

It emerged that the prisoner had a poor grasp of English and appeared not to have understood that while he had received a life sentence, the minimum tariff stipulated was four years and 244 days.

Ms Bingham wrote: “Staff failed to assess Mr Nastase’s risk of suicide and self-harm after he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Mr Nastase had limited English, but there is no evidence staff used interpretation services to ensure that he understood what his sentence meant, and to help them understand the impact on his risk.

"Mr Nastase was not offered a health assessment following his change of status from convicted to sentenced prisoner, as he should have been.

“A mental health nurse completed an assessment as part of the ACCT (suicide and self-harm prevention measures) review, but this was inadequate.

“The ACCT review did not identify that Mr Nastase’s mental health had deteriorated after he received a life sentence and relied on Mr Nastase’s presentation and assurances that he did not intend to harm himself. The caremap was inadequate.

"Prison staff and a primary care nurse were concerned there had been a further decline in Mr Nastase’s mental health the day before he died, but the mental health nurse failed to assess him and prioritised other less urgent tasks.

"We consider that the decision not to assess Mr Nastase, despite requests from wing staff and a nurse colleague, was a significant error of judgement.

“Staff should have considered reviewing Mr Nastase’s ACCT or increasing the level of observations when his behaviour became increasingly bizarre on 31 August.

“On the day before he died, Mr Nastase was in a distressed state and staff could not understand what he was saying. They could not use a telephone interpretation service because Mr Nastase would not leave his cell and the portable telephone was not compatible with Big Word the translation service. A Romanian prisoner had to be asked to act as interpreter.

“The officer who initially found Mr Nastase in his cell correctly radioed an emergency code, but the control room failed to call an ambulance immediately, contrary to national guidance.

“Not all the staff involved in the emergency response attended the debrief.

“The prison’s care team representative at the debrief was also the operational manager when Mr Nastase was found, and it was not appropriate to expect him to have to undertake this supportive role given his involvement.

“Some prison and healthcare staff reported that they did not feel sufficiently supported in the days after Mr Nastase died. The prison cancelled two subsequent debriefs scheduled in September and October. When one was held on November 24, only three people attended.”

Nastase, says the report, was the eighth prisoner to die at Forest Bank since September 2017.

An HMP Forest Bank spokesperson said: “We understand that this is a difficult time for Mr. Nastase’s family and our thoughts and condolences remain with them.

"While many changes and improvements have been made in the prison over the course of the four years since Mr. Nastase’s death, we will consider the jury’s findings and conclusions with great care and continue to build on progress made.”