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Bowden prison policies would prevent repeat of suicide: report

A fatality report into a Bowden Institution prisoner who committed suicide in 2009 was released on Wednesday with no recommendations to prevent similar deaths.

A fatality report into a Bowden Institution prisoner who committed suicide in 2009 was released on Wednesday with no recommendations to prevent similar deaths.

Gerald Ernest Mayhew, 51, was found dead by prison staff at 1:40 p.m. on Sept. 27, 2009.

No recommendations were made as changes in policies and practices were put in place after his death.

Institution policy on counting inmates required the prisoner to stand up for a count at 4:15 p.m. That policy was changed effective Sept. 21, 2009, to require two stand up counts, including one at 11:45 a.m.

Staff on duty in Mayhew’s unit on the day he died were not aware of the policy change so the 11:45 a.m. count was not a stand up count.

Mayhew appeared to be sleeping at other checks on him at 7 a.m., 9 a.m., 11 a.m. and 12:40 p.m.

It was not unusual for Mayhew to be sleeping late, particularly since it was a weekend morning.

At a 1:30 p.m. check, staff saw vomit in the cell.

A nurse concluded he had been dead for four to six hours.

Mayhew committed suicide by overdosing on medication for depression. He was receiving blister packs with a 35-day supply and did not take the medication for an extended period of time in order to attempt suicide.

In 1998, he attempted suicide but he was considered a low risk for suicide in 2009.

The Medicine Hat man was serving a life sentence for second-degree murder.

He was convicted in 1998 for the murder of his 15-year-old daughter in 1997.

Amber Dickson’s body was found in his apartment, four days after she had left to spend the weekend with her father.

She had been sexually assaulted, bathed and wrapped in a blanket.

The day after the girl’s body was found, Mayhew turned himself into police.

His sentence included no parole eligibility for 14 years, a term he later fought unsuccessfully.

The public fatality inquiry was held on May 23 before provincial court Judge Gordon Deck in Red Deer.

An inquiry is held to establish the cause, manner, time and place, and circumstances of death. It does not include findings of legal responsibility.

Bowden Institution has about 645 inmates.