A Durham prisoner suffered multiple organ failure after injuries sustained while trying to flee police caused sepsis, an inquest has heard.
Paul Noble, 44, from Darlington, died on October 7, 2018, after being admitted to University Hospital of North Tees from HMP Holme House. A month previously he had fallen from a roof while trying to evade arrest, sustaining leg and wrist wounds which ultimately led to sepsis, Teesside Live reports.
On Monday, a jury Teesside Coroner's Court heard that Noble needed a crutch after his fall but was found 'fit enough' to move from HMP Durham to HMP Holme House on September 24. The court was told the prisons did not have a social care plan for Noble, despite him seeking help for his worsening pain and condition.
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In a statement read to the court, Durham Constabulary's PC Wilde, who was sent to detain Noble on September 15 on Forster Street in Darlington, said he had evaded officers at the scene by climbing onto neighbouring properties. She then heard a 'loud crashing' from a house when Noble had fallen from a first-floor roof.
Following his arrest, PC Wilde said Noble complained that his wrist was hurting and he walked with a limp, but she was unsure whether that was how he ordinarily walked.
Teesside Senior Coroner Clare Bailey heard that, in the days before his death, Noble became incontinent as his condition took a dangerous turn. A mental health nurse at Holme House recorded his mental state at 'zero risk' despite being seriously physically unwell.
On September 28, Noble rang his cell bell multiple times throughout the night for pain relief as a result of his previous injuries, but staff reportedly did not consider his pain review to be a serious one.
When a staff nurse flagged up Noble's worsening condition, highlighting right leg and right forearm swelling, they were told there were not enough prison officers for an escort to North Tees Hopspital in Stockton. When he was eventually taken to hospital, medical staff instructed Holme House workers to elevate Noble's injured leg at night upon his return - but they 'didn't have the resources' to do so.
The jury heard Noble 'cried out in pain' during the night on October 1 due to swelling in his leg as a result of sepsis, and he was taken into North Tees' intensive treatment unit two days later. There his deterioration spiraled after developing septic arthritis and multiple organ failure and he died on October 7.
Dr Peter Cooper, who caried out a post-mortem at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, said Noble had suffered multiple organ failure, sepsis in his calf and arm as well as lung pneumonia towards the end of his life.
A statement was also read out from Stephen McCabe, who was Noble's cellmate in Holme House. He said his cellmate had become incontinent, accidentally defecating on the floor, describing it as 'black and tarry' - which the court heard is a symptom of onset sepsis
The inquest, set to last four days, continues.
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