Advocates condemn ‘unconscionable’ denial of water before mentally ill man’s death in Sydney prison

Simon Cartwright’s mental illness made him a highly vulnerable prisoner. Leading mental health expert Patrick McGorry describes the treatment of the 41-year-old as a ‘disgrace’. Photograph: Supplied by the Cartright family

A former royal commissioner is dismayed at the “unconscionable” treatment of a mentally ill man who was deliberately denied water to his cell in the days before he died from a treatable illness that prison health staff inexplicably missed.

The treatment of Simon Cartwright, a man diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, in Sydney’s Silverwater prison has drawn widespread condemnation from mental health experts and advocates.