Paul Calvert

Paul Darren Calvert, 40, was a White father of two from Hackney in east London. Paul was living with his mother, Gwen, before he was sent to prison.  

In 2004, Paul died a self-inflicted death while on remand at Pentonville Prison. Paul had been struggling with drug use and had a history of depression, yet he was not classified as at risk of self-harm by the prison. Paul rang the emergency bell, but it could not be heard because the mute button was held down with sticky tape. His cell warning light was on for as long as 50 minutes before another prisoner eventually found Paul.

At the first inquest into his death, the coroner did not allow the jury to return a verdict of 'neglect'. This was quashed by a High Court ruling that the inquest did not comply with Article 2 i.e. 'the right to life'. In 2009, the second inquest jury delivered a verdict of "accidental death contributed by neglect".

Gwen campaigned tirelessly to get justice for her son and to raise awareness about the scale of deaths in custody.