By Ben Kerrigan-
A 22-year-old prisoner who was found dead in his cell at HMP Hindley had been able to obtain psychoactive substances with “apparent ease” despite strict restrictions introduced during the Covid-19 lockdown, while prison staff also failed to carry out crucial checks on the night before his death, a watchdog investigation has found.
Dylan Woodhead died at the young offender institution in Bickershaw, near Wigan, on January 8, 2021, just 10 days after being transferred there from HMP Forest Bank in Salford. A subsequent investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman raised serious concerns about both the availability of drugs inside the prison and failures in the procedures intended to monitor prisoners’ welfare.
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A post-mortem examination confirmed that Woodhead had taken psychoactive substances before his death. The watchdog concluded that the substances were not responsible for his death, but warned that such drugs can have serious effects on mental health. Ombudsman Adrian Usher said he was particularly concerned that Woodhead had apparently been able to obtain the substances so easily despite the restrictions imposed during the pandemic.
The findings expose a troubling contradiction at the heart of the case. While prisons had introduced tighter controls during lockdown to restrict the movement of people and contraband, Woodhead was still able to access drugs. The report said Hindley had a comprehensive drug strategy, but concluded that the strategy needed to be implemented effectively to reduce both the supply of drugs and demand among prisoners.
Even more concerning were failures in the basic welfare checks intended to establish whether prisoners were safe. According to the report, the officer on night duty failed to properly conduct both the evening roll check on January 7 and the morning roll check on January 8. An officer on day duty also failed to conduct the morning roll check.
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As a result, Woodhead was not checked by an officer during a crucial period before he was found dead. The Ombudsman said it could not establish whether a properly conducted check would have changed the outcome, but stressed that early intervention during another emergency could save a life. Woodhead had a history of attempted suicide and self-harm and was known to have experienced anxiety, depression and substance misuse problems.
The investigation found that there were no clear indications in the days immediately before his death that he intended to take his own life, while he had sought only limited support from prison staff. His circumstances made the case particularly complex. Woodhead had been in custody for about three months and was serving his first prison sentence.
Before his transfer to Hindley, he had been held at Forest Bank after being remanded in custody in September 2020. He was facing charges including assault, actual bodily harm, controlling or coercive behaviour and criminal damage.
He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison on December 4, 2020, alongside a restraining order prohibiting contact with his former partner. He was transferred to Hindley shortly after Christmas, on December 29. The report later established that he disregarded the restraining order and contacted his former partner by telephone the night before his death, during which he threatened to take his own life.
The watchdog also criticised the approach taken at Forest Bank, where Woodhead had spent most of his time in custody. Usher said prison staff there should have considered beginning formal suicide and self-harm prevention procedures when Woodhead arrived, given the number of risk factors in his background.
However, the report acknowledged that predicting suicide in custody is notoriously difficult. Woodhead had not been displaying obvious signs that he intended to kill himself in the days before his death, demonstrating the challenge faced by prison staff attempting to identify prisoners whose mental state can deteriorate rapidly.
Woodhead was described as a joiner and father and had played rugby for Wigan-based Ince Rose Bridge. His death therefore left a community mourning a young man whose life had extended well beyond the circumstances of his imprisonment. An inquest held in January 2024 determined that the medical cause of death was hanging and returned a narrative conclusion stating that Woodhead died by suicide. Prison staff attempted to resuscitate him but were unsuccessful.
The Ombudsman’s findings have since prompted a series of recommendations aimed at preventing similar failures. The Prison Service said it had accepted and actioned all of the recommendations. It also pointed to measures introduced in recent years to combat the smuggling of drugs and other contraband, including X-ray body scanners, enhanced gate security and baggage-scanning technology.
Those measures reflect the continuing struggle faced by prisons across the country to prevent drugs entering secure facilities. Psychoactive substances are particularly challenging because their composition can be unpredictable and their effects can vary significantly, creating additional risks for vulnerable prisoners.
The case of Woodhead nevertheless raises questions beyond drug control. It highlights how multiple vulnerabilities can converge inside a prison: mental-health difficulties, previous self-harm, substance misuse, limited engagement with staff and failures in routine monitoring. None of those factors alone necessarily explains a death, but together they demonstrate why safeguarding systems must operate consistently.
The Forest Bank spokesperson said the prison’s thoughts remained with Woodhead’s family and everyone affected by his death, adding that the institution had fully cooperated with the Ombudsman’s investigation and accepted its findings. The report provides a detailed account of the institutional failures surrounding his final hours, but it also leaves an uncomfortable unanswered question; whether a properly conducted welfare check, combined with greater awareness of his vulnerabilities, might have provided an opportunity for intervention.
The Ombudsman cannot say that it would have changed the outcome. What the investigation does establish, however, is that systems designed to protect prisoners failed at critical moments, while drugs remained accessible inside the prison. The case stands as a stark reminder that behind prison walls, routine procedures such as roll checks can become matters of life and death, particularly when they involve vulnerable young people whose circumstances may change with little warning.
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