Coroner concerned about further deaths at HMP Woodhill following Ronnie Meikle’s death in 2024.

Ronnie was 47 years old when he died at HMP Woodhill on 30 April 2024 as a result of Spice use. He was known by his family as a practical joker who loved to make people around him laugh.

Ronnie had a very difficult childhood growing up in and out of care. Before being sent to HMP Woodhill, he had received a potential diagnosis of anti-social personality disorder which the jury heard is a common diagnosis for people with a history of trauma. Whilst at HMP Woodhill Ronnie told his prison offender manager that he used drugs as a means to cope with his traumatic past, and his prison offender manager believed his drug use was a way of self-medicating his complex emotions. In January 2024, Ronnie asked to see the psychiatrist for support in relation to his mental health. However, due to long delays he was not seen before his death.

Ronnie received an indeterminate sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence in 2011, with a minimum tariff (meaning the minimum time he should serve) of 33 months. At the time of his death, he had been in prison for 13 years (over 11 years over his tariff) and had never been released.

IPP sentences were introduced in 2005 and intended for those considered “dangerous” but where the offense did not merit a life sentence. An IPP prisoner would only be released once a minimum term, the tariff, had been served and they have proved that they are no longer a threat to the public. They would be released on licence with the potential to be recalled to prison. The sentence was abolished in 2012 after it became clear that people were being held in prison many years over their tariff. At the time of his death Ronnie was one of approximately 2,800 still in prison serving an IPP sentence.

In order to be released Ronnie needed to satisfy the parole board that he was no longer a risk to the public. In November 2022, Ronnie had his fifth parole board hearing. He was told that he would not be released, despite his behaviour being good, as he needed to undertake the Kaizen course. This course is an offender behaviour programme for men convicted of violent offences who are assessed as high or very high risk. The Kaizen course began being delivered at HMP Woodhill in around 2021/22 and has since been removed across the entire prison estate. The jury heard from a Kaizen programme lead who said this course was extremely difficult for prisoners especially those with traumatic childhoods as they were required to share their traumatic experiences. He said Kaizen had an extremely high drop off rate. He explained that the majority of prisoners did not complete the course with only 3 or 4 prisoners completing it in the 4 year period in which it was available at HMP Woodhill.

In October 2023, HMP Woodhill was deemed unsafe by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons and an Urgent Notification was issued. This led to almost half of the prisoners being transferred out of the prison and programmes, including Kaizen, being paused. Ronnie felt that pausing Kaizen had put his parole in “jeopardy” as he thought he would never be able to complete the course before his next parole board hearing which was due to take place in 2024. His family described how Ronnie had begun to give up hope on ever being released from prison. Just over 3 months before his death, Ronnie wrote to the Parole Board and said:

“I do not believe after 13 years that you will every release me from this sentence…I will be waiting here or any establishment I am going to be waiting until your blood thirst is quelled and you finally release me or until the men in woollen overcoats come to cart me away in a nice neat box”.

On 30 April 2024 checks done at 5am and 7.20am did not, as they should have done, confirm that Ronnie was alive and well. At the first Ronnie could not be seen as he had obscured the observation panel in the cell door. The officer who conducted the second had no memory of seeing Ronnie. At approximately 9am another officer came to Ronnie’s cell and found his observation panel was still blocked. This time, the officer made efforts to remove the item obscuring the blocked observation panel and found Ronnie on the floor, unresponsive. The officer entered Ronnie’s cell and healthcare were called but unfortunately it was too late, and Ronnie was declared deceased at 9.33am by paramedics.

In his summing up to the jury, the Coroner noted that the evidence overall showed a complex picture of a vulnerable prisoner with an IPP sentence with no end. The inquest jury found that “the IPP sentence and the requirement to complete Kaizen caused Ronnie distress and frustration” and that there was “evidence of systemic and operational failings”.

Following the inquest, the Assistant Coroner for Milton Keynes published a Regulation 28 report outlining 12 matters of concern. These include:

1. Availability of illicit substances in HMP Woodhill
2. Failure to consistently identify, record and respond to prisoners under the influence
3. Risk information (such as information related to substance misuse, mental health, debt, bullying and self-isolation) were not appropriately shared, which could lead to warning signs being missed
4. Blocked observation panels and inadequate visual welfare checks
5. Management of self-isolation, debt, fear and vulnerability
6. Staff should have considered ACCT procedures and this shows a wider issue in relation to ACCT procedures at HMP Woodhill
7. There is not enough support for IPP prisoners at HMP Woodhill and the particular vulnerability this kind of sentence presents for people.
8. Delay or insufficiency in mental health and psychiatric input
9. Training and emergency response to suspected synthetic cannabinoid collapse
10. There is a staffing shortage at HMP Woodhill which increases the risk of undetected drug use and delay discovery of people who have collapsed
11. The issues above have been repeated concerns at HMP Woodhill, and the coroner is concerned that they have not done enough to fix these issues
12. The failure of state agencies to supply all information to the inquest in a timely fashion

The report is available here.

On 19 March 2026 HMP Woodhill as issued with its second Urgent Notification due to significant concerns that the prison is not safe and that drugs are far too easily available. In response, the Secretary of State for Justice responded with 23 proposed actions to address the concerns, including opening a wing dedicated to abstaining from substances.

The family are represented by INQUEST Lawyers Group members Rachel Tribble from Deighton Pierce Glynn and Keio Yoshida of Doughty Street Chambers.

Other Interested Persons represented at the inquest are HMP Woodhill and Central North West London NHS Trust who provided the healthcare services at the prison.