Death in Pentonville prison


Death in Pentonville prison

News

Written by: liam


IRR News has learnt that, on 30 March 2008, a man detained under immigration powers was found hanged at Pentonville prison.

Alfredo Castano-Fuentes, 24, was found hanged in his cell during a routine cell inspection. Attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead. Alfredo had served a one-year sentence for possessing a false passport and was being held under immigration powers at the overcrowded Pentonville prison. According to Ministry of Justice population in custody tables, in February 2008, Pentonville prison had certified normal accommodation (CNA) for 799 people but was actually holding 1,138 people.[1]

A Prison Service spokesperson told IRR News: ‘Alfredo Castano-Fuentes was found hanging in his cell at 5.15am on Sunday 30 March [and] was pronounced dead at 10.45am. Our sympathies are with Mr Castano-Fuentes’s family. As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will conduct an investigation.’

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[1] The book by Fourest and Denis MacShane has the subtitle, The doublespeak of Tariq Ramadan. Fourest is a French feminist who was given a 'Laïcitê' award in 2005. She was also one of the original eleven signatories, alongside Hirsi Ali and Salman Rushdie, of the 2006 manifesto, 'Together facing the new totalitarianism'. [2] A Muslim network that provides training courses for Muslim activists in several French-speaking countries. [3] The Collective of Feminists for Equality was created following a petition in Le Monde in December 2004 entitled, 'A veil on discrimination'. It includes both non-Muslim and Muslim feminists and its charter states there is no 'one single model of liberation and emancipation for women' and calls for respect for freedom of choice on the wearing of the headscarf. The Institute of Race Relations is currently conducting a two-year research project on 'Alternative Voices on Integration' funded by the Network of European Foundations (European Programme on Integration and Migration).


The Institute of Race Relations is precluded from expressing a corporate view: any opinions expressed are therefore those of the authors.

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