Synopsis:
‘My daughter died when she was just 18 years old. She got to the prison on Friday and was dead by the following night. In that 24 hours she was vomiting, fitting, having cardiac arrests and even though they knew she’d overdosed several members of staff including the nurse walked out the cell and shut the door on her.’ Pauline Campbell Sarah Campbell was the 3rd of 6 women to die at Styal Prison in Cheshire in just one year. Over the last few years, the suicide rate in Britain’s prisons has reached alarming rates with two people a week taking their own lives. This disturbing film reveals the shocking reality behind the walls of Styal. Granted unprecedented access to the prison’s wing at night, the documentary shows staff repeatedly intervening to save lives - literally running from cell to cell to remove ligatures from necks, plastic bags from heads and to patch up self inflicted burnings and cuttings. ‘Last month the total number of incidents of self harm was 148 – that included 2 hangings, 30 ligatures, 45 cuttings, 1 wound aggravation and 6 noose making’ Karen Dillon - Suicide Prevention Meeting. The new Governor – Steve Hall - is under no illusions about what he is up against – many inmates are chronically addicted to drugs or alcohol and nearly half suffer from a serious mental health problem. The most actively suicidal are kept in the segregation block where they have someone watching them through a gated cell 24 hours a day – even when they are using the toilet. ‘I just want to escape from the person I am….I feel if I punish myself then no-one else can punish me. I must need to be punished because of the way I got brought up – hit, abused, children’s home – you’re bad, they don’t want you – drummed in your head all the time.’ Flo Fenna – Prisoner But far from being a haven, they describe it as being like a zoo - as some of the most highly disturbed women scream and bang their doors all day and all night. The arrival of a prison on a so-called dirty protest just adds to the pressure for everyone. ‘She’s now naked in her cell – I don’t really think she’s aware of what she’s doing. The opinion is that she is critically in need of a hospital bed but we have another three that are in critical need of a hospital bed – but until there’s the bed and the finances they are going nowhere.’ Linda Horsfield – Senior Officer Since the 6 deaths a culture of fear has gripped the prison and staff are understandably nervous and frightened that another death will occur on their watch. The film shows how they try to deal with women like Amanda – who on a good day cuts herself 3 or 4 times a day – on a bad day it can be 11 or 12; Flo who repeatedly ligatures herself and Jackie – an ex-Broadmoor patient – who attempts suicide or cuts herself on an almost nightly basis. ‘There will be another death at Styal – you cannot have a situation where people continue to do risky things without something going wrong.’ Steve Hall, Governor. Two months after this film was Broadcast , mother of tow identified as vulnerable, hung herself at the prison.
Festivals
Sheffield Doc Fest 2006
Synopsis:
‘My daughter died when she was just 18 years old. She got to the prison on Friday and was dead by the following night. In that 24 hours she was vomiting, fitting, having cardiac arrests and even though they knew she’d overdosed several members of staff including the nurse walked out the cell and shut the door on her.’ Pauline Campbell Sarah Campbell was the 3rd of 6 women to die at Styal Prison in Cheshire in just one year. Over the last few years, the suicide rate in Britain’s prisons has reached alarming rates with two people a week taking their own lives. This disturbing film reveals the shocking reality behind the walls of Styal. Granted unprecedented access to the prison’s wing at night, the documentary shows staff repeatedly intervening to save lives - literally running from cell to cell to remove ligatures from necks, plastic bags from heads and to patch up self inflicted burnings and cuttings. ‘Last month the total number of incidents of self harm was 148 – that included 2 hangings, 30 ligatures, 45 cuttings, 1 wound aggravation and 6 noose making’ Karen Dillon - Suicide Prevention Meeting. The new Governor – Steve Hall - is under no illusions about what he is up against – many inmates are chronically addicted to drugs or alcohol and nearly half suffer from a serious mental health problem. The most actively suicidal are kept in the segregation block where they have someone watching them through a gated cell 24 hours a day – even when they are using the toilet. ‘I just want to escape from the person I am….I feel if I punish myself then no-one else can punish me. I must need to be punished because of the way I got brought up – hit, abused, children’s home – you’re bad, they don’t want you – drummed in your head all the time.’ Flo Fenna – Prisoner But far from being a haven, they describe it as being like a zoo - as some of the most highly disturbed women scream and bang their doors all day and all night. The arrival of a prison on a so-called dirty protest just adds to the pressure for everyone. ‘She’s now naked in her cell – I don’t really think she’s aware of what she’s doing. The opinion is that she is critically in need of a hospital bed but we have another three that are in critical need of a hospital bed – but until there’s the bed and the finances they are going nowhere.’ Linda Horsfield – Senior Officer Since the 6 deaths a culture of fear has gripped the prison and staff are understandably nervous and frightened that another death will occur on their watch. The film shows how they try to deal with women like Amanda – who on a good day cuts herself 3 or 4 times a day – on a bad day it can be 11 or 12; Flo who repeatedly ligatures herself and Jackie – an ex-Broadmoor patient – who attempts suicide or cuts herself on an almost nightly basis. ‘There will be another death at Styal – you cannot have a situation where people continue to do risky things without something going wrong.’ Steve Hall, Governor. Two months after this film was Broadcast , mother of tow identified as vulnerable, hung herself at the prison.