An inquest has found that there were “missed opportunities” to prevent the death of Clare Dupree, a 48-year-old woman with severe mental illness, who died after starting a fire in her cell at HMP Eastwood Park in Gloucestershire just after Christmas 2022. The jury concluded that a lack of automatic in-cell fire detection delayed the discovery of the blaze.
Ms Dupree, from Cardiff, used a vape to ignite the fire. The inquest at Avon Coroner’s Court also heard that an incorrect diagnosis of emotionally unstable personality disorder had contributed to her incarceration. Expert witnesses suggested she actually suffered from bipolar disorder, leading to diagnostic overshadowing.
Her sister, Rachel Thorrington, described Ms Dupree as a “happy, kind, outgoing person” whose life changed after a brain tumour operation at 14 and a rape at 15. She later developed mental health issues and drug addiction. In summer 2022, she was imprisoned for threatening a security guard with a knife after being coerced into theft by an abusive partner.
Despite being referred to a psychiatric unit towards the end of her sentence, a psychiatrist declined to transfer her, and she was released homeless. Dr Inti Qurashi, a forensic psychiatrist, stated that with proper treatment she would not have ended up in prison. She was rearrested in November 2022 and returned to HMP Eastwood Park.
On Boxing Day evening, Ms Dupree set fire to her cell. She died two days later from a hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury and multi-organ failure. Her family expressed grief, with her daughter Emma Baptiste remembering her as “caring, sensitive, generous and funny”. The family had felt relieved she would be safe in prison over Christmas.
