A convicted killer 'struggling to come to terms' with his life sentence was found hanged in his Strangeways cell alongside a note saying 'You can stick your 20 years up your a***', a report said. Carl Smythe, 46, was jailed for life after stabbing Damien Bendelow to death in a car park following a fight in a pub in Cornwall in January 2020.
He was transferred to Strangeways on February 10, 2021. But just 12 weeks later Smythe was found dead after taking his own life.
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Prison staff 'should have done more' to support Smythe, the prisons ombudsman said. A fatal incident report said while the physical and mental health care he received at HMP Manchester was 'of a good standard', there was 'no evidence staff had any meaningful contact with him' apart from one conversation on March 9.
His recently imposed life sentence was a 'significant risk factor', the report said, but because of the lack of contact staff 'were not in a position to identify that he was struggling'.
"We consider that more should have been done to support him," the report said. An assessment by a mental health nurse on February 27 noted that Smythe was 'becoming hopeless' and was struggling to come to terms with the length of his sentence.
On April 30 a friend called the prison's 'safer custody helpline' and left a voice message to express her concern about Smythe's safety. Around 40 minutes later a prison officer carried out a welfare check on the inmate.
A record of the check said there were 'no concerns at present but will monitor today'. The report found Smythe's death was 'not foreseeable'.
He had 'always denied having any suicidal thoughts and gave prison staff no reason to consider that he was at imminent risk of self-harm and suicide in the days and weeks prior to his death', it said.
Smythe was found dead in the early hours of May 4, 2021. A handwritten note later found in cell read: "You can stick your 20 years up your arse."
At the time of his death the UK was still in lockdown. Prison visits were suspended and inmates spent most of their days locked in their cells.
The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman said while it 'recognised that Mr Smythe always denied thoughts of suicide', it recommended that staff 'engage frequently and meaningfully' with prisoners who are serving long sentences, and consider whether they need additional support'. It also recommended calls to the safer custody helpline are 'considered in the context of the prisoner's risk factors'.
Smythe had never met 20-year-old Damien Bendelow before he stabbed him six times as he walked across a pub car park on January 26, 2020.
Truro Crown Court heard Smythe had been drinking heavily at the White Horse pub in Liskeard before the fatal attack. Other drinkers said he became agitated and aggressive before getting into a fight with Mr Bendelow. Jurors were told the victim's friends tried to break up the fight and Smythe hit two girls while being evicted from the pub.
Later, Smythe reappeared and ran towards Mr Bendelow as he was crossing the car park with his friends. Smythe appeared to punch Mr Bendelow and then ran from the scene while the victim said 'I've been stabbed' before collapsing.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: "HMP Manchester has already implemented the ombudsman's recommendations including providing better support for prisoners serving long sentences and improving their response to helpline calls."
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