Artist's 'never-ending' jail term led to sense of hopelessness, inquest told

A “never-ending” prison sentence handed to an artist who died in her cell led to a “sense of hopelessness” and “frustration”, a psychologist has told an inquest.

Charlotte Nokes, 38, was jailed in 2008 under an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence, under which offenders are given a minimum jail tariff but no maximum, the inquest in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, was told.

Nokes, who was diagnosed with a personality disorder, was handed a minimum term of 15 months but at the time of her death in July 2016 had been in prison for eight and a half years, seven years over tariff, jurors at the inquest into her death were told.

Nicky Asplin was the principal counselling psychologist who had been working with Nokes in the months before she died at Peterborough prison, which is run by the outsourcing corporation Sodexo.

Asplin told the jury that during a therapy session held shortly before her death, Nokes expressed “a lot of frustration at the never-ending sentence of an IPP prison sentence”.

The psychologist said she had raised concerns with the National Offender Management Service (Noms), which is now called Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, about the impact of the sentence on Nokes.

“I expressed my concern that she was significantly over tariff and could we move this forward,” Asplin said.

Asplin said she agreed with Stephen Clark, a barrister representing Nokes’ family, that being over the minimum tariff, along with her personality disorder, contributed to a “sense of hopelessness” in Nokes, as well as mistrust in professionals with whom she needed to engage to progress towards her release.

The jury had heard this week that Nokes, who had been offered a scholarship at Central Saint Martins art college in London, told her father, Steven Nokes, that the indeterminate term was “like a death sentence” and a “source of great distress for her”.

The assistant coroner, Simon Milburn, previously told the jurors it was not necessary for them to be told 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. 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.

She was on a mix of drugs including medication used to treat anxiety, anti-depressants, a hypnotic to treat insomnia, a treatment for acute mania and another to control tremors caused by anti-psychotic medication, the inquest heard.

She was observed on more than one occasion to be “over-sedated” with slurred speech, the inquest heard.

She was found unresponsive in her cell at 8.55am on 23 July 2016 and was pronounced dead at the scene, the jury was told.

Dr Martin Goddard, who conducted the postmortem, told the inquest he was unable to record a cause of death, ruling out third party involvement, a toxic cause of death, such as a drug overdose, and there were no obvious underlying natural causes.

Goddard told the jury it was possible she had suffered from sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (Sads), which is only recorded in between one and five per cent of deaths at inquests.

“I apologise to the family that I’ve been unable to give them peace of mind, but I’m afraid that is the way it is,” he said. “There is nothing to suggest it was an unnatural death.”

The inquest continues.