'My son needed help. Instead he was handed a death sentence'

At Margaret Pomeroy’s kitchen table a chair is always empty, waiting for a son who will never return.

Sat in her car on February 19, 2019, she was delivered the most devastating news imaginable over the phone. She remembers screaming as she was told her 27-year-old son had been found dead in his cell at HMP Forest Bank by an officer. Every day since then has only grown more painful, she says.

Michael McDonagh - affectionately referred to as Mickey by his mum - entered the prison following a driving offence in September 2018. The 27-year-old suffered from a number of mental health problems, and was described by his prison psychiatrist as a ‘complex man’.

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During his time in the Salford jail, Michael was a wing cleaner, a role with an ‘element of trust’. He had frequent visits from family, and spoke to Margaret of his dream of opening a pet shop. He was due to be released in October 2019 - but he would never make it out alive.

Margaret, from Failsworth, has spent four years fighting for answers over her son’s death. Earlier this month, an inquest at Bolton Coroners’ Court concluded ‘serious failings' in the management of his recent methadone prescription by prison staff ‘probably’ contributed to his death.

Jurors found medics failed to carry out the necessary five-day checks after Michael was prescribed methadone, and criticised a lack of ‘adequate system’ in place to ensure these happened. The inquest heard he could have been dead for hours before he was discovered in his cell.

HMP Forest Bank said 'many changes' have been made in the prison