A thief died of internal bleeding three days after being released from a North East prison. Robert Barry was sent to HMP Durham on remand and convicted of assault and theft six days later.
The 45-year-old was sentenced to eight weeks behind bars. He was released from the category B prison the following month and died three days later from an internal bleed.
A doctor gave the cause of death as acute upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage, caused by duodenal ulcer. The coroner decided not to conduct an inquest into his death.
Barry was sent to Durham prison on remand on December 14, 2024 and was convicted and jailed for assault and theft on December 20, 2024.
An investigation, by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO), identified how he did not disclose any health issues during his initial health screen and told staff he did not drink alcohol.
Barry told staff that he would have nowhere to live on release from prison and the pre-release team completed a homelessness referral to Newcastle City Council.
An application for accommodation was made for him, which was accepted, and he was referred to the Reconnect service - a community service which provides various support services to prison leavers.
Barry was also referred to Newcastle Treatment and Recovery - an NHS service that provides various substance misuse service for community treatment.
Barry said he felt fit and well during a pre-release medical check. The ombudsman said: "At no point during his imprisonment had Mr Barry sought any help for symptoms that might have been related to an ulcer."
He was released from Durham prison on January 27 last year and attended an initial probation appointment with a probation officer.
Three days later, on January 30, his community offender manager spoke to staff at Newcastle Treatment and Recovery to see if he had been attending his appointments. They told her Barry was in hospital with an internal bleed after he became unwell at home.
The community offender manager was informed the same day that Barry had died. A post-mortem examination was not carried out as the coroner accepted the cause of death provided by a doctor.
The clinical reviewer concluded that the care Barry received at HMP Durham was of a good standard and was at least equivalent to that which he could have expected to receive in the community. He found that there was nothing the healthcare team could have done to predict or prevent Barry's death.
He also found that the healthcare team appropriately referred Barry to community teams for ongoing support in the community. No recommendations were made.
