AN INMATE who was found dead in his cell at the Verne Prison on Portland had told a doctor he was having suicidal thoughts, an inquest was told.

Jeffrey Edward Parkes, aged 40, was discovered in his cell in the prison’s segregation unit on the morning of April 8 last year with a ligature around his neck.

West Dorset Coroner Michael Johnston told the inquest jury at County Hall in Dorchester that Parkes, originally from Liverpool, was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of eight years in 1990 for being an accessory to a murder.

After moving round several prisons, Parkes arrived at the Verne in December 2009 and was placed in the segregation unit in March 2010 after prison staff intercepted a package containing cannabis that had been sent to Parkes.

Early on the morning of April 8, around three weeks after he had moved to the segregation unit, prison officer Paul Samways discovered his body. The inquest heard the ligature was made from a strip of bed sheet and attached to the bars of the cell window.

Dr Luke Turley, who was working at the prison, said he had seen Parkes in February last year, when the inmate appeared ‘low’. He said: “He had had thoughts of suicide but he hadn’t made any specific plans of how he would do this.”

Dr Turley referred Parkes to mental health nurse Dorothy Mogotsi, who had regular contact with the prisoner. Fellow inmate Steven Gander said Parkes had been ‘frustrated’ by the fact that, due to a variety of reasons, he had spent 20 years in jail, well over his minimum tariff of eight years. He said: “I think Jeff just had enough of prison. 20 years is a long time and you just get to the stage where you have had enough.”

The inquest continues today.