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.

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