The parents of a prisoner who died a slow and “barbaric” death alone after contracting Covid have spoken out for the first time. Calum Inglis, 34, who had asthma and was unvaccinated, was found dead at HMP Addiewell on October 24 2021 - 12 days after contracting coronavirus.
The private prison in West Lothian is the first in the UK to face prosecution over a Covid death after Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC launched the move against Sodexo Ltd and NHS Lothian last year. The case came after dad Alan, mum Jen and sister Frances, from Edinburgh, spent years campaigning for an investigation into his death.
Family's harrowing account
Five years on from the tragedy, they watched the health board and prison management firm admit failing to manage Calum’s care before his death at Edinburgh Sheriff Court. In harrowing impact statements, the family said Calum was left in his prison cell without medical support, coughing up blood and shouting for help to prison officers through an intercom.
They also revealed they had to learn Calum had died several hours later - when a pal contacted them after hearing a “rumour”. Dad Alan said prison was “never meant to be a death sentence” for his son, who had been serving 18 months for an assault, while mum Jen said reading her son’s post-mortem results would “haunt her” for the rest of her life.
Alan's account of the final days
Alan said: “Four days before Calum died, he began to cough up blood. He was shouting this to the prison officers through the cell intercom. Calum was told someone would come to see him the next morning on each of those four days, but nobody ever did. When they opened the cell and found him dead around 8.30am on 24th October, they found blood everywhere and food trays that had been untouched for days. Their treatment of Calum was barbaric.”
Alan only learned of his son’s death eight hours later when he called the prison after hearing a “rumour” through Calum’s friend. He said prison staff told him they couldn’t find his number and described it as the “most heartbreaking experience I have ever had”.
Jen's statement and legal admissions
Mum Jen said: “No court outcome will ever bring Calum back, nor can it restore the future he was deprived of. Both the prison and the health trust treated my son with total contempt as he was left to die. I do not have the words to describe how I feel about Sodexo and those in the Health Trust, they inflicted a life sentence on me as a mother and they inflicted irreversible damage on me and my family. Calum was not just a prisoner. He was my son, a brother, an uncle and a nephew. He was loved. He mattered. He deserved compassion, dignity and proper medical care.”
Lothian Health Board pled guilty to a charge under the Health and Safety at Work Act, admitting failing to adequately plan Calum’s care between October 12 and 24, so that his health was adequately assessed, leading to his death from severe complications of Covid. Sodexo admitted a charge under the same act. The charge said the firm failed to ensure Calum’s health was adequately monitored, that any deterioration in his condition was identified and appropriately escalated to healthcare for reassessment and that appropriate records were maintained, resulting in his death.
Post-mortem and campaign for inquiry
Jen added that she will never forget the day she received Calum’s post-mortem results. She said: “Opening those documents and reading what had happened inside my son’s body was horrific. Multiple blood clots, sepsis, bacterial infections. I cannot begin to describe what it feels like as a mother to read those words and know how much Calum would have suffered and how absolutely alone he must have felt. It is something that will haunt me for the rest of my life.”
Alan said he has struggled with feelings of guilt ever since Calum died. He added: “I had been aware that my son was unwell, and yet, because I trusted the system, the regret has become became unbearable. As a dad, I feel I should have been knocking down the down of the prison asking them to help my son - but I didn’t. I believed that he would be looked after. My lasting thought will always be that Calum died completely alone in his cell, while clearly needing medical attention. It is just heartbreaking to think of what he went through in his final hours. His time in prison was never meant to be a death sentence.”
Speaking after the conviction, solicitor Aamer Anwar said: “Five years ago, Calum’s family began a campaign for justice. Calum had a right to life, but they believe he was treated worse than an animal, left caged, terrified and alone, repeatedly pressing an intercom, screaming for help, coughing up blood. His life had little value in the minds of those who were meant to guard and care for him, but today finally his family have an acceptance of what that system did to Calum. This is only the start and they will fight for a fatal accident inquiry to hear in a public court room, from those who failed to answer Calum’s cries for help. I hope Calum Inglis’s family may one day take some comfort from knowing how proud he would have been that they have never gave up fighting for him.”
A Sodexo spokesperson said: "We extend our deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of Calum Inglis following his death at HMP Addiewell in October 2021. However, as the legal proceedings have not yet concluded, it would be inappropriate for us to comment any further at this time."
Dr Tracey Gillies, Medical Director, NHS Lothian, said: “We apologise unreservedly to the family of Mr Inglis for the failings in his care and offer our sincere condolences. NHS Lothian conducted a review following his death to ensure that lessons were learned and to prevent a repeat of similar circumstances. Since then, robust actions, for both NHS Lothian and SPS staff, have been implemented to improve standards of patient safety and care, including the adoption of welfare checks and associated procedures.”
