Inmate at Stanley Prison dies of ill health

Updated at 6.23pm:
A prisoner with chronic illnesses died on Wednesday following a sudden deterioration in his health, the Correctional Services Department said.

The 51-year-old inmate, surnamed Keung, was immediately treated by medical staff at Stanley Prison after his health worsened on Wednesday, a department spokesman said.

He was then rushed to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, but later certified dead.

?[His condition] was found to have suddenly changed in the hospital observation ward of Stanley Prison about 7.30am,? the spokesman said.

The inmate had been regularly treated for chronic diseases and had received treatment from a hospital outside the prison, the spokesman said.

He said Keung?s relatives and police had been notified of his death.

The Coroner?s Court would hold an inquest into his death, the spokesman added.

Keung had been convicted of robbery and given a seven-year jail term. He was admitted to Stanley Prison in August, 2004.

In a similar case that occurred at Stanley Prison in July 2004, a 37-year-old inmate with chronic illnesses died of a heart attack.

He was found unconscious in an isolation cell on the night of July 14 that year and certified dead early the next day.

The case prompted a coroner?s jury in 2005 to call for increased training for prison hospital officers in handling inmates with chronic illnesses.