Pregnant woman who miscarried in prison 'was forced to clear up blood from cell floor'

A woman who miscarried in a prison cell was forced to clean up the blood herself, a court heard - while her foetus lay dead on the floor.

Nadine Wright, who was on remand for stealing £14 of food from a village shop, claimed she was only treated by HMP Peterborough three days later despite a nurse watching the miscarriage.

The 37-year-old heroin addict, who had mental health issues and was grieving after the death of her mother, was said to be deeply traumatised by the incident.

Traumatic: Heroin addict Nadine Wright, 37, claimed she had to clean up the blood from her miscarriage while her foetus lay dead on the floor of her cell less than 24 hours after she arrived at HMP Peterborough, pictured

Wright's barrister Philip Gibbs told Leicester Crown Court: 'There was blood everywhere and she was made to clean it up.

'The baby was not removed from the cell. It was quite appalling. It was very traumatic.'

 

The claims emerged as Wright was jailed for 10 months after she admitted breaching two court orders, by not attending probation appointments and shoplifting once.

She stole £13.94 of food from a Co-Op in the village of Newbold Verdon, Leicestershire, where she lived.

But she said she did it out of desperation because probation officers had not helped her get benefit payments, despite her being under their supervision for 11 months.

Shoplifting: Wright was remanded after stealing £14 of food in 'desperation' from this Co-Op in Leicestershire

Wright's miscarriage was said to have happened on November 23, less than 24 hours after she entered privately-run HMP Peterborough.

Mr Gibbs added: 'She only received health care three days later, after the governor intervened.'

He added legal representatives would be investigating her alleged mistreatment in prison.

The court heard Wright, who had 26 previous offences, battled heroin addiction since her teens and lived a 'chaotic lifestyle'.

Her mother died in September and Wright, who has mental health issues, was ill-equipped to deal with the loss, said Mr Gibbs.

It was not stated in court how many months pregnant she was.

Paul Trotter, for the probation service, said Wright had failed to co-operate and did not attend appointments.

The claims emerged at Leicester Crown Court, pictured. The jail did not say if there was an investigation

HMP Peterborough is a category B prison, opened in 2005 and run by Sodexo Justice Services.

A prison spokesman said it 'cannot comment publicly on individual cases' and refused to say whether any inquiry relating to the alleged incident is being held.

The spokesman added: 'A prisoner received medical treatment on the day of her arrival in prison and was seen by a GP the following day.

'We have a duty of care to all prisoners that we hold. As part of that, we ensure that all prisoners have access to the same level of NHS services as those in the community.'

SOURCE-DAILYMAIL