'Imagine being locked in cell all day, staring at four walls for 22 hours and see if you don't want to get high'

A jailed murderer serving life for stabbing to death a childhood friend hanged himself in prison, a report has revealed. Ricardas Jonusas, 34, was found dead in his cell.

Jonusas, a Lithuanian national who had moved to Bolton, was handed a life sentence in October 2020 for plunging a kitchen knife into Laurimas Ruzanov, 35, another Lithuanian. Jonusas was told he had to serve a minimum 15 years behind bars before he would be eligible for parole.

Now a report has revealed that Jonusas, who had a history of self-harm, drug and alcohol abuse behind bars, had initially been allowed to serve his sentence in his homeland but was later returned to the UK. He was found dead in his cell at the high-security HMP Swaleside on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent on December 16, 2022, just two years into his sentence.

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A report by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) Adrian Usher revealed Jonusas was the fifth prisoner to take his own life in 2022 at HMP Swaleside. The watchdog said that 'yet again' he had found the monitoring of suicidal inmates was 'managed poorly' at the jail. Successive reports by HM Inspectorate of Prisons have also criticised staffing at the jail.

"This investigation has again highlighted the detrimental impact that the shortage of staff at Swaleside is having on the men in its care. Mr Jonusas had no key work sessions due to lack of staff and was clearly frustrated by spending most of the day locked in his cell, without purposeful activity.

"I understand that (the prison service) is taking steps to address issues with staff retention and recruitment at Swaleside. In the meantime, the prison needs to ensure