Wolverhampton husband accused of murdering wife killed himself amid prison care failures
A murder suspect found unresponsive in his prison cell killed himself, an inquest has concluded.
Lorry driver Jai Singh Puni, 50, of Wolverhampton, was discovered after barricading himself in his cell at Birmingham Prison on January 27 last year.
The Punjabi speaker was due to stand trial for murdering his wife Sukhjeet Uppal, 40, who was found stabbed to death at their home, in Tangmere Road, Bilston, on September 19, 2021.
A jury at Birmingham Coroners Court on Friday returned a conclusion that Mr Singh had committed suicide. However, the jury also said there had been failings in the way the prison staff had handled concerns by the inmate's family about his mental health issues.
The hearing found there was inadequate communication with relatives, a failure to use interpreters adequately, to act on health staff concerns, to appoint a psychiatric nurse as a single point of contact for him and a lack of rigour.
Following the verdict Birmingham Area Coroner Emma Brown said she would be sending a Section 28 Prevention of Future Deaths report to parties involved his care including the prison, the Ministry of Justice and Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust in relation to issues including clinical assessments and record-keeping.
"The inquest would not have been able to explore the circumstances of your brother's death if you had not put in the effort," Miss Brown told the family.
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