The Five Demands

Un rapporto sulla morte del killer dell’UDA Harry Speers,  ha rivelato carenza di cure mediche

Harry Speers, paramilitare legato all’Ulster Defence Association, fu ritrovato cadavere nel febbraio 2008 nella sua cella a Maghaberry. Un infarto la causa del decesso.
Un supervisore medico ha stabilito che l’uomo avrebbe dovuto essere stato oggetto di controlli quotidiani, mentre l’Ombudsman Pauline McCabe ha difeso il personale infermieristico che ha dichiarato di aver seguito le direttive secondo le quali i controlli avrebbero dovuto aver termine con il miglioramento delle condizioni di salute del prigioniero.
Il rapporto di 57 pagine rivela come non ci siano prove che i controlli quotidiani siano stati effettuati dopo il 12 febbraio 2008.
Harry Speers, 49 anni di Newtownabbey, morì pochi giorni dopo, il 18 febbraio.
Fu incarcerato nel 2004 per l’omicidio di Trevor Lowry, e condannato all’ergastolo, con l’obbligo di detenzione di almeno 15 anni. Ron Craig, all’epoca ventenne, fu condannato per lo stesso reato, con l’obbligo di detenzione di almeno 11 anni.
Il giorno della sua morte, Speers aveva un appuntamento presso il Belfast City Hospital. Al suo ritorno a Maghaberry, lamentava dolori allo stomaco e gli venne diagnosticata una gastroenterite, una patologia piuttosto comune.
Il responsabile medico ha dichiarato all’Ombudsman, che seguendo le direttive, il personale infermieristico ha interrotto i controlli quando si è verificato il miglioramento delle condizione di salute del prigioniero.
A Speers venne consigliato di smettere di fumare (accanito fumatore di 30 sigarette al giorno) e di medicare una ferita alla testa.
Pauline McCabe, ha osservato come la chiamata di un’ambulanza dimostri l’esistenza di un politica di richiedere interventi di emergenze allor quando si renda necessaria una rianimazione cardiopolmonare.
L’assistenza sanitaria a Speers era responsabilità del South Eastern Health Trust, non della prigione.
Un portavoce del Trust ha affermato di aver preso in considerazione le raccomandazioni contenute nella relazione sulla morte del paramilitare dell’UDA e che ogni azione fu intrapresa per attuare tali raccomandazioni.

Failings in loyalist prison death (U TV)
A loyalist killer who died of a heart attack in prison should have been checked every day for health problems, the Prison Ombudsman has said.
UDA paramilitary Harry Speers, 49, was found motionless in his Maghaberry cell after the prison nurse thought medical observations should stop as his condition had improved.
A medical reviewer found that the standard of care fell below common and acceptable practice.
But Ombudsman Pauline McCabe acknowledged some good care by medical staff and praised the considerate response of wardens in the hours before his death.
The 57-page report said: “There is no evidence that baseline investigations, which the doctor requested to be carried out on at least a daily basis from February 12 2008, were undertaken.”
Thirty cigarettes-a-day Speers, from Newtownabbey, died on February 18, 2008 after complaining of chest pains. He also had a stomach condition called ulcerative colitis.
He was imprisoned in 2004 for beating Trevor Lowry to death.
Mr Lowry, 49, a father of two from Glengormley, died on March 31, 2001, two days after being lured into an alleyway at Harmin Drive in the village where he was attacked and brutally beaten.
Speers, a former Ulster Democratic Party councillor, was sentenced to life imprisonment and told he must serve a minimum of 15 years.
Ron Craig, 20, Richmond Avenue, Glengormley, who was a schoolboy at the time of the attack, was also convicted for the murder and told that he would serve at least 11 years.
Ill health
On the day of his death Speers had an appointment at Belfast City Hospital with a gastroenterologist. When he returned to prison, he complained of feeling unwell and suffering pains in his chest.
After the nurse examined him, he diagnosed him with a gastric intestinal complaint, which was common and good practice, according to clinical reviewer Dr Neil Lloyd-Jones.
The report said a nurse was aware of a request from the prison doctor for daily observations.
The healthcare manager told the ombudsman: “Her understanding of the note was that the observations were to be carried out if Mr Speers was unwell and, as he had improved, she felt that the note no longer applied.”
In assessing the inmate’s treatment in prison, Dr Lloyd-Jones concluded his treatment was mainly consistent with accepted medical practice.
He was offered advice about stopping smoking and treatment for a head injury.
Ms McCabe said a dispute over whether an ambulance was called means there should be a clear statement on the policy on calling for the emergency response where cardiopulmonary resuscitation is performed.
Speers’ healthcare was not the responsibility of the prison but was the charge of the South Eastern Health Trust.
A spokeswoman for the Trust said: The trust has considered the recommendations within the report regarding the failings in the healthcare provision for Mr Speers and would confirm that actions are being taken to implement these recommendations.”