Dave had enough and hanged himself

We were all surprised to hear that Dave English had done himself in. He was a young fellow and good proof of the old story that you can't judge a book by its cover. He was no handsome face and tattoos everywhere didn't help. But we always exchanged a few words when we passed on the stairs. He seemed, well, quite likeable.

You can usually tell when a fellow's had enough and is likely to do himself in. Dave may not have looked the best example of God's handiwork - ears for sailing downwind, a sort of all-over nose, a flaring sort of complexion - but he didn't look like someone who was troubled by God's lack of attention. He seemed to know what's inside, in the heart, is what matters.

When we heard of the details of his case - alleged to have fired some shots at the cozzers when he was stopped on a stolen motorbike - you're left wondering if the Right hasn't offered a bit of Old Testament thinking.

But we heard, too, that he had been digging away for some time at the ceiling around the light fitting, to give himself something to swing on. There's an inquiry being conducted by the Independent Monitoring Board. We won't expect much of an outcome from that.

Poor old Dave. I won't say he'll actually be sadly missed. He was a lifer with hardly more than a prison future to look forward to. But it is sad when a fellow human leaves, especially in such an agonising way. It can't be fun to hang yourself. You kick away the stool and the rope starts crushing. You might think, too late, it was a mistake. Let's hope he wasn't tortured for ages, that the end wasn't slow in coming.
- Roger Gordon

Links:
About David's death
Dave's conviction