Artist felt indeterminate jail term was like death sentence, inquest told

An artist who died in a private prison told members of her family the indeterminate term she was serving was “like a death sentence”, a jury has heard.

Charlotte Nokes was suffering from physical and mental health problems when she died aged 38 in her cell in Peterborough prison, run by the outsourcing corporation Sodexo, on 23 July 2016, an inquest into her death was told.

Nokes, who had been offered a scholarship at Central Saint Martins art school in London, was jailed in 2008 under an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence.

IPP sentences, under which offenders were given a minimum jail tariff but no maximum, were abolished in 2012 but the change was not retrospective, meaning prisoners continued to serve under the original terms.

Her father, Steven Nokes, in a statement read by the coroner, said he was very proud of his daughter, who was a “big character”.

“We would catch up on what each other had been up to, how she was getting on with her art work,” he said. “She almost always mentioned her IPP sentence, it was a source of great distress for her. She would say things like ‘Dad, I don’t think you understand the sentence, it’s like a death sentence’ and ‘I could be in here for the rest of my life’.

“At times when I spoke to her or visited her she was in a dark place because she had lost all hope of being released. She said she couldn’t see herself being released from prison ever.”

The assistant coroner, Simon Milburn, told the jury it was not necessary to explain why Nokes, from Hayling Island in Hampshire, was imprisoned.

Nokes was a successful artist and her work had been exhibited by the Koestler Trust at the Southbank Centre in London, the inquest in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, heard. She had previously completed a foundation course and hoped to study art at university.

Nokes was subject to ACCT (assessment, care in custody and teamwork), a care planning process for prisoners identified as being at risk of suicide or self-harm, the inquest heard.

In the months leading up to her death, Nokes was prescribed a broad range of medication to treat both mental and physical conditions and she often presented as drowsy, sleepy and sedated to staff and family, the inquest heard.

The jury was told a postmortem was unable to establish her cause of death.

The assistant coroner told the jury that issues to consider during the seven-day hearing were Nokes’s management within the prison, particularly regarding her mental health, the medication she was prescribed and cell checks.

The inquest continues.