A female prison officer killed herself after disciplinary proceedings were launched against her when she was spotted out watching a rugby game while off work suffering from depression.
Janet Norridge, 34, who had ambitions of becoming a prison governor, was signed off work by a doctor but was seen attending a live screening of a Wales match at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
Proceedings were launched against Norridge, who had a long history of depression, and she killed herself at her flat in Newport, south Wales, after being dismissed by the prison authorities.
The Gwent coroner, David Bowen, is to write to the prison service calling for a review of the way officers are treated during disciplinary proceedings.
Concluding that Norridge, who worked at Cardiff prison, had killed herself, the coroner said: “She felt she had been unfairly dismissed – that was the matter playing on her mind.
“I will be writing to the director of the prison service asking for a review of the treatment provided to prison staff facing disciplinary hearings in order that they deal appropriately with the people that appear before them.”
Norridge’s family said she had been treated cruelly by the prison authorities. In her evidence to the coroner, her mother, Joanna, said her daughter had been branded a “skiver” and her “mental fragility” was ignored.
She said: “The disciplinary charges of ‘skiving’ were nonsense and should never have been proceeded with. Jan was not ‘skiving’. She was seriously ill with depression and having thoughts of killing herself.
“Senior staff at Cardiff prison knew of Jan’s serious mental illness and suicidal ideation but chose to ignore it and ploughed on with an unfair disciplinary process that resulted in an unfair dismissal.
“Jan tried to kill herself three days after her dismissal in February 2012 and succeeded in killing herself within a week of her appeal against dismissal being rejected.”
In her evidence, Norridge’s mother said her daughter referred to her depression as “the old black dog” and would sometimes say: “I’m a waste of space.”
She added: “Jan was acutely embarrassed by her depression which to many people remains a taboo subject. She was anxious not to be seen by others as someone who couldn’t ‘hack it’. She wanted to be seen as a strong independent woman who could stand on her own two feet. Jan was a proud, feisty young woman who really fought her depression.”
She became very upset after a relative died of bowel cancer and she tested positive for a gene that gave her an 80% chance of also getting the disease.
The inquest was told she went to the doctor and was given three weeks off work to come to terms with the shock. She went out with friends to see a live screening of a match being played in the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Her close friend Rebecca Rolls told the hearing in Newport: “One of her colleagues saw her there and reported her to the prison. She was interviewed by her employers who charged her with misconduct. This destroyed Janet. She was so proud of her job and her profession.” She died in April 2012.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are with the family of Janet Norridge following this tragedy. We have noted the coroner’s comments and will respond to his recommendations in due course.”
• In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. Hotlines in other countries can be found here.
