Prison officer said killer inmate was 'probably having a laugh' - he died soon after

A prisoner officer at a Greater Manchester jail dismissed concerns about the welfare of a killer inmate who later died as he was 'probably having a laugh' a report claims.

Shafaq Khan, 52, was found unresponsive in his cell at HMP Hindley in December 2022. Khan, who was serving an eight-year sentence for manslaughter, was rushed to hospital.

However, he remained unwell and died there 10 weeks later. A watchdog report into his death has now criticised the level of healthcare he received at the Category C jail in the village of Bickershaw near Wigan.

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It has also revealed that a prison officer's alleged response to a concern raised about Khan by a fellow inmate in the hours before he was discovered sparked both police and internal investigations.

Former shopkeeper Khan had been jailed after the fumes from an electricity generator he installed in a back room of a convenience store killed the tenant living in the flat above.

Dad-of-six Jao Afonso, 58, died from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by fumes from a petrol-powered electricity generator which had been installed in a poorly ventilated rear store-room of the convenience store, in a converted former pub on Wood Street in Middleton.

The landlord of the building, Mushtaq Ahmed, and Khan, who ran the shop, hired the generator to provide power to the store and all the flats above it after Electricity North West had discovered the meter had been bypassed and so cut off the supply.

They ignored safety instructions on the generator by placing it in an enclosed space with no proper ventilation and risked the safety of customers, employees and tenants by plugging the it into the mains.

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The pair ignored concerns from customers and even revved the machine to boost the power, causing more fumes. Exhaust fumes from the generator rose to the flat above and killed Mr Afonso.

During his trial, jurors were shown a picture Khan, a father who also ran a taxi business, had posted of himself on Facebook, just five days after the tragedy, which showed him posing in front of the store with the caption 'Shop open as normal your local cheap store in midd'. It made a mockery of claims he made during his trial that he didn't have the expertise to search the internet about the dangers of using a petrol generator.

Khan, previously of Gainsborough Road, Rochdale, denied gross negligence manslaughter but was found guilty after a trial. He was also convicted of four health and safety breaches by installing the generator and in February 2021 was sentenced to eight years. Ahmed, then 51 and of Roundthorn Road in Oldham was jailed for nine years.

'He said he thought he was dying'

Khan was first sent to HMP Forest Bank in Salford before being transferred to Hindley on April 26, 2022. He had a "significant medical history" which included high blood pressure and type two diabetes.

In June his GP referred him to hospital due to his high blood sugar but there was was "no evidence that healthcare staff followed up this referral as they should have done" the report by Prison and Probation Ombudsman Adrian Usher, released last month, documents.

It says then had numerous consultations at the prison and in secondary services over the course of the following months. On December 16, he said to have pressed his emergency bell after saying he felt unwell for the past few days.

He was seen by a nurse later that evening who told him he may have flu. A prisoner on the same wing told police he saw Mr Khan coming up the stairs and that "he looked really ill".

He asked Khan if he was ok, and said "Mr Khan said no and that he thought he was dying".

"Mr Khan said he felt terrible and had never felt like that in his life," the report into his death says. The inmate said he did not tell staff about what Mr Khan had said.

However, a prisoner said that on the morning of December 19, Khan's cellmate told him Khan had been since the previous morning (Sunday, December 18) which was "unusual."

At around 8:10am the prisoner spoke to a prison officer, referred to in the report as Officer A, and "told him that he needed to call healthcare, as Mr Khan had been asleep for 22 hours," the report says.

"He said that the officer sniggered and responded by saying Mr Khan was probably having a laugh," it adds. It says that "the officer did not contact healthcare or check on Mr Khan."

He was found unresponsive at 11:14am when an officer went into his cell to give him his lunch. He went into cardiac arrest but was resuscitated and was taken to hospital. He died there on February 28, 2022.

At an inquest into his death held in May this year, the coroner concluded that Khan died as the consequence of "a combination of pre-existing, diagnosed naturally occurring diseases, recently diagnosed Pancreatic Cancer, and recognised complications arising from the combined effects of Type two diabetes, a recent viral infection, and associated idiopathic cardiac arrest."

"Following Mr Khan’s death, Greater Manchester Police opened an investigation into the actions of Officer A," the report says. "They were particularly concerned about him allegedly being dismissive of the prisoners concerns about Mr Khan’s health."

However, it says: "The police concluded that there was insufficient evidence to pursue a criminal investigation, and no charges for gross misconduct were brought against him."

Adding: "Prison managers at Hindley conducted an internal investigation of Officer A’s actions on 19 December 2022. The investigation concluded that he would be issued with advice and guidance."

'Care was not of the required standards'

Mr Usher said that a clinal reviewer from NHS England had concluded that "the care Mr Khan received at HMP Hindley was not of the required standard and therefore not equivalent to what he could have expected to receive in the community."

"She was concerned about the lack of oversight of Mr Khan’s high blood pressure and diabetes management and communication between the GP services at the prison and healthcare staff," he said.

Adding: "The clinical reviewer could not say whether better monitoring of Mr Khan’s diabeticcontrol and follow-up of the endocrinology referral would have affected the outcome for him.

"However, she concluded that better monitoring of Mr Khan’s blood sugar and ketone readings should have happened. The clinical reviewer considered that there were missed opportunities for further monitoring of Mr Khan’s diabetic control."

Among his recommendations, he said: "The Head of Healthcare should ensure that there is prompt and effective communication between the GP services and the healthcare team to ensure alerts and triggers for prisoners are monitored appropriately."

And that: "The Head of Healthcare should ensure that healthcare staff complete a full set of clinical observations, including a NEWS2 score, when a prisoner requires a healthcare assessment, to ensure that patients who are deteriorating, or at risk of deteriorating will have a timely initial assessment by a competent clinical decision maker."

The Ministry of Justice has been approached for comment.

A spokesperson from Spectrum Community Health CIC, which provides the healthcare at HMP Hindley, said: “Spectrum Community Health CIC acknowledge your query in response to the recently published PPO report relating to the very sad death of a patient at HMP Hindley.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the patient’s family and those who knew him. As with all Death in Custody reviews, we are fully committed to working closely with employees, HM Prisons and Probation Service (HMPPS) and NHS England to ensure all recommendations outlined in the report relating to the service we have provided have been fully engaged with and implemented.”