Mirren Gidda represented the family of Joshua Paul Mcrae, whose inquest took place between 12 October 2026 and 21 October 2026 at the Worcestershire Coroner’s Court.

The jury heard that Josh had been sentenced at the age of 18 to Imprisonment for Public Protection (‘IPP’). Except for seven months in the community, Josh spent his entire adult life in prison, dying at the age of 34 at HMP Long Lartin from spice toxicity.

The jury heard that Josh was in his parole window at the time of his death and awaiting a parole hearing to determine his eligibility for release. Josh had a history of substance misuse, and it was considered by staff at the prison that he was at risk of using substances when he lost hope. A few months before his death, it was recommended at an IPP Progression Meeting that the prison’s substance misuse service, Inclusion, engage with Josh on substance misuse, but Inclusion decided not to do that nor to notify prison staff of its decision.

The jury held that sufficient efforts were not made by prison staff and/or the Inclusion team to try to get Josh to engage in substance misuse work. The jury also heard that at the time of Josh’s death, all the drugs at HMP Long Lartin were arriving by drone, with the high-security prison having no external defences to combat the drones. The jury held that HMP Long Lartin did not have sufficient measures in place to combat the ingress of illicit substances into the prison nor did it have sufficient measures in place, whether through an established drug strategy or otherwise, to try to restrict the demand for illicit substances within the prison. The jury held these failures possibly caused or contributed to Josh’s death.

Lastly, the jury heard that on the day Josh was found, three members of staff, two doing a roll check and a third unlocking the cells, had failed to check he was alive and well. Although not causative of Josh’s death, the Coroner determined that he would write to the governing governor of HMP Long Lartin and ask him what measures are in place to ensure staff have received training on the conducting of welfare checks.

Mirren was instructed by Rajiv Nair of Deighton Pierce Glynn solicitors.