Mum wants son moved from HMP Pentonville in suicide fears
Joseph Lamey - Credit: Archant
A mother is desperate to have her son moved out of HMP Pentonville because the woman he is accused of assaulting once worked there.
Joseph Lamey, 28, was sent to the jail three weeks ago, awaiting a court date in January. He is on remand for allegedly beating up a former prison guard who worked there.
Joanna Lamey claims he is being picked on by staff and said that Mr Lamey has tried to kill himself three times since going into the prison in Caledonian Road, Holloway.
Acknowledge
She is desperately trying to have him moved somewhere else but says no one from the prison service will even acknowledge her attempts to contact them.
She said: “I’m so worried about him. I seriously think he might not make it out of there.
“He looks awful, in a really bad state. He has tried to take his own life three times. The last time was on Friday, but I only found out because the Imam in the prison told me. I’m his next of kin, shouldn’t someone let me know? I’m scared he is going to keep trying until he is successful. And it’s all because he is in that prison, and because she worked there. It’s going to kill him.”
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Mrs Lamey says she has written to the prison governor and the Ombudsman, but has had no support from either.
“The Ombudsman says the complaint has to come from Joseph directly so I told him this morning to do that.
“But the governor hasn’t even replied to me. I can’t believe it. All I want is a letter or something to let me know what is going on.
“I have never seen him in such a state, so low and depressed. He is going through a mental breakdown.’’
A spokesman for the Prison Service said the decision on where to send a prisoner on remand would be decided on the merits of each case.
She added: “We don’t comment on individuals.”
Last month a report published The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) which inspects the prison annually, described HMP Pentonville as a “very dismal physical environment” lacking “simple human decency”.
It also said the prison needed urgent investment.
