Prisoner dies after “seriously deficient” care

A High Court judge last week ordered the home secretary to set up an independent inquiry into the death of a prisoner who died during an asthma attack in his cell.

The unprecedented ruling-made under the Human Rights Act, which puts the state under an obligation to safeguard life-has serious implications for the inquest process. The Home Office was given permission to appeal.

Paul Wright, aged 33, died of an asthma attack in his cell at Arnley prison, Leeds, in 1996, while under the care of a prison doctor who …