Before Assistant Coroner Priya Malhotra
Inner West London Coroners Court, 33 Tachbrook Street, London SW1V 2JR
Opens 7 July, expected to last 2 weeks
Patrik Gladysz, a 27 year old Polish national, died two weeks after ligaturing whilst on remand at HMP Wandsworth on 19 January 2024. Now an inquest will open to examine the care he received at the prison in the lead up to his death.e
At the time of his death, Patryk was the eighth foreign national to die a self-inflicted death at the prison since 2021. HMP Wandsworth has also had the second highest number of self-inflicted deaths of all prisons in England and Wales since 2020, with 20 people having died by self-inflicted means.
Patryk loved to cook and laugh and was always willing to help. He liked games and mind puzzles and was interested in the ancient world.
Patryk had a diagnosis of schizophrenia and a history of suicide attempts in the community. He was under the care of community mental health services at the time of his arrest.
On 17 April 2023, Patryk was remanded to Wandsworth prison awaiting extradition to Poland. This was his first time in prison in the UK, and he spoke limited English. Despite this, prison and healthcare staff did not use formal interpreting services to communicate with him.
On 5 January 2024, an officer found Patryk ligatured in his cell. She called for assistance and called a medical emergency ‘code blue’. Staff began CPR until paramedics arrived. Patryk was taken to St George’s Hospital where he died on 19 January.
The inquest will examine the circumstances of Patryk’s death, including:
- The assessment of Patryk’s suicidality and risk of self-harm
- The management of his schizophrenia
- Issues relating to the use of interpreters to communicate with Patryk about his asylum claim and extradition to Poland, and whether this affected mental health assessments and the care he received.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
For further information, a photo, and interview requests please contact [email protected].
A picture of Patryk is available here.
The family is represented by INQUEST Lawyers Group members Sarah Kellas and Aisha Bailey of Birnberg Peirce and Paul Clark of Garden Court Chambers. They are supported by INQUEST Caseworker Jordan Ferdinand-Sargeant.
Other Interested persons represented are HMP Wandsworth, the Ministry of Justice and Oxleas NHS Trust.
Relevant background information
On 9 May 2024, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) issued an urgent notification for HMP Wandsworth following an unannounced inspection and concerns including the high rates of self-harm and number of self-inflicted deaths. It also noted that around half of the population were foreign nationals and services had not been designed with this in mind.
In May 2025, HMIP published an Independent Review on Progress on the prison. It found that the rates of violence and self-harm had both reduced.
However, former Wandsworth prisoners and relatives of current prisoners who spoke at the recent open meeting disputed the claims of improvement, saying that conditions inside the jail remain dire.
In 2022, INQUEST published a report on the deaths of racialised people in prison and the role of racism in the preventable and premature deaths of 22 racialised people in prison.
Journalists should refer to the Samaritans Media Guidelines for reporting suicide and self-harm and guidance for reporting on inquests.
Patryk Gladysz
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Before Assistant Coroner Priya Malhotra
Inner West London Coroners Court, 33 Tachbrook Street, London SW1V 2JR
Opens 7 July, expected to last 2 weeks
Patrik Gladysz, a 27 year old Polish national, died two weeks after ligaturing whilst on remand at HMP Wandsworth on 19 January 2024. Now an inquest will open to examine the care he received at the prison in the lead up to his death.e
At the time of his death, Patryk was the eighth foreign national to die a self-inflicted death at the prison since 2021. HMP Wandsworth has also had the second highest number of self-inflicted deaths of all prisons in England and Wales since 2020, with 20 people having died by self-inflicted means.
Patryk loved to cook and laugh and was always willing to help. He liked games and mind puzzles and was interested in the ancient world.
Patryk had a diagnosis of schizophrenia and a history of suicide attempts in the community. He was under the care of community mental health services at the time of his arrest.
On 17 April 2023, Patryk was remanded to Wandsworth prison awaiting extradition to Poland. This was his first time in prison in the UK, and he spoke limited English. Despite this, prison and healthcare staff did not use formal interpreting services to communicate with him.
On 5 January 2024, an officer found Patryk ligatured in his cell. She called for assistance and called a medical emergency ‘code blue’. Staff began CPR until paramedics arrived. Patryk was taken to St George’s Hospital where he died on 19 January.
The inquest will examine the circumstances of Patryk’s death, including:
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
For further information, a photo, and interview requests please contact [email protected].
A picture of Patryk is available here.
The family is represented by INQUEST Lawyers Group members Sarah Kellas and Aisha Bailey of Birnberg Peirce and Paul Clark of Garden Court Chambers. They are supported by INQUEST Caseworker Jordan Ferdinand-Sargeant.
Other Interested persons represented are HMP Wandsworth, the Ministry of Justice and Oxleas NHS Trust.
Relevant background information
On 9 May 2024, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) issued an urgent notification for HMP Wandsworth following an unannounced inspection and concerns including the high rates of self-harm and number of self-inflicted deaths. It also noted that around half of the population were foreign nationals and services had not been designed with this in mind.
In May 2025, HMIP published an Independent Review on Progress on the prison. It found that the rates of violence and self-harm had both reduced.
However, former Wandsworth prisoners and relatives of current prisoners who spoke at the recent open meeting disputed the claims of improvement, saying that conditions inside the jail remain dire.
In 2022, INQUEST published a report on the deaths of racialised people in prison and the role of racism in the preventable and premature deaths of 22 racialised people in prison.
Journalists should refer to the Samaritans Media Guidelines for reporting suicide and self-harm and guidance for reporting on inquests.
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