A woman who drove 60 miles to prison to prevent her husband from hanging himself was unable to alert prison staff in time because both the intercom and phone line were broken, a coroner has ruled.
Isaiah Adekunle Olugosi hanged himself in his HMP Wormwood Scrubs cell overnight between March 27 and 28 2022. His death was later ruled by a jury as suicide.
According to a prevention of future deaths report, Olugosi’s wife spoke to her husband at around 9pm on March 27 and believed he was suicidal.
She, Cambridgeshire Police and the Metropolitan Police were all unable to contact the prison by telephone to warn them because “calls were being diverted to an unmanned or obsolete number”.
Instead, she drove for two hours from Cambridge to Wormwood Scrubs where she banged on the main gate for some time, calling out and pressing a buzzer which promised to connect her to an intercom through which she could speak to prison staff.
Assistant coroner for West London Richard Furniss said in his report that the intercom was out of action and had been “for several years”. As a result, Olugosi’s wife and police could not contact the prison all night and “the deceased took his life”.
Mr Furniss ruled “there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken” by the governor of Wormwood Scrubs, Amy Frost.
He said: “The buzzer/intercom system must have been provided because it was thought important to provide that additional means of communication between the prison and the outside world.
“In this case, a working system would have enabled the deceased’s wife to warn the prison of his impending suicide.
“This could happen again in the future if there was another problem with the telephone system during the night state.
“It is difficult to understand why the buzzer/intercom system has not worked for several years. There was evidence that it is irreparable. But the proposed solution appeared to be either to leave it as it is (still not working) or to remove it altogether.
“The jury found that the failure to provide a working buzzer/intercom system was a failure.
“It is a matter of concern that the prison/the Ministry of Justice still considers that it is unnecessary.”
The prison’s governor has been asked to respond to Mr Furniss’s report by April 21 2025 with details of action taken or proposed action to be taken.
The Ministry of Justice has been contacted for comment.