source: Kingston Guardian
published: 24 July 2015
Criminal justice campaigners have claimed “overcrowded, understaffed” conditions at Wandsworth Prison are leading to deaths in custody – some of whom are innocent men waiting for a trial.
Men found dead in the category B prison over the past 18 months include:
– New Malden man Raymond Mills, 66, a psychiatric patient accused of murdering his wife, was found hanged in his cell in June.
– Robert Richards, 22, who had been found guilty of rape and attempting to murder a Chessington pensioner, was found hanged in his cell in June last year.
– Mathan Vadivelalagan, 20, accused of raping a woman in Mitcham, was found hanged in the ‘first night centre’ in May last year.
– Wadid Barsoum, 66, was allegedly murdered by fellow inmate Taras Nykolyn in May. Nykolyn is due to appear at the Old Bailey today.