Strangeways prison officer jailed after lying under oath at inquest into death of inmate

A prison officer who lied under oath at an inquest into the death of an inmate has been jailed.

Raymond Cook, 54, was working at HMP Manchester when remand inmate, John Ahmed, sadly died following a ‘restraint incident’ in the prison’s segregation unit on July 29, 2015.

Mr Ahmed came to the attention of police officers whilst out in the exercise yard when he was allegedly passed a package, it was said. He was taken to an empty cell to be searched, during which an incident occurred and he was restrained prone on the ground.

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He sadly lost consciousness during the incident and died shortly after. An inquest was held into his death in 2017, during which Cook gave evidence.

The evidence of the officers was that Mr Ahmed was struggling 'violently' whilst being restrained with Cook on his left arm, and other officers on his right arm, his legs and his head. Mr Ahmed became pale and a request was made for assistance from healthcare professionals, jurors heard.

Mr Ahmed’s death was considered by a pathologist to be the result of the combination of the physical and emotional effects of the restraint and an underlying heart condition.

Like the other officers involved, Cook had to provide an Annex A 'use of force' statement, and was asked questions in relation to this during the inquest between February 27 and March 29 2017, the court heard.

The account given by Cook in his evidence was 'materially different' to that in the Annex A document in relation to the way Mr Ahmed had turned, the degree of Mr Ahmed’s movement, the degree of actual violence from him and how he took hold of Mr Ahmed in response.

The court heard that on an iPad belonging to Cook