Yousefe El Briri

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Independent investigation into
the death of Mr Yousefe El Briri,
a prisoner at HMP Woodhill,
on 4 July 2023
A report by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman
Third Floor, 10 South Colonnade Email: mail@ppo.gov.uk T l 020 7633 4100
Canary Wharf, London E14 4PU Web: www.ppo.gov.uk
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© Crown copyright, 2025
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1. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman aims to make a significant contribution to
safer, fairer custody and community supervision. One of the most important ways in
which we work towards that aim is by carrying out independent investigations into
deaths, due to any cause, of prisoners, young people in detention, residents of
approved premises and detainees in immigration centres.
2. If my office is to best assist His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) in
ensuring the standard of care received by those within service remit is appropriate,
our recommendations should be focused, evidenced and viable. This is especially
the case if there is evidence of systemic failure.
3. Mr Yousefe El Briri died from epilepsy at HMP Woodhill on 4 July 2023. He was 29
years old. We offer our condolences to Mr El Briri’s family and friends.
4. The PPO family liaison officer wrote to Mr El Briri’s next of kin to explain the
investigation and to ask if they had any matters they wanted us to consider. They
expressed concerns about the care Mr El Briri had received following numerous
seizures. This is addressed in the clinical review report.
5. NHS England commissioned an independent clinical reviewer to review Mr El Briri’s
clinical care at HMP Woodhill. He concluded that the clinical care Mr El Briri
received at Woodhill was equivalent to that which he could have expected to
receive in the community.
6. The PPO investigator investigated the non-clinical issues relating to Mr El Briri’s
care. We did not find any non-clinical issues of concern. We make no
recommendations.
7. We shared our initial report with HMPPS. They found no factual inaccuracies.
8. We sent a copy of our initial report to Mr El Briri’s next of kin. They provided the
correct spelling of Mr El Briri’s name, which has been amended in this report. They
did not notify us of any other factual inaccuracies.
Adrian Usher July 2024
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman
Inquest
The inquest, held on 20 to 24 January 2025, concluded that Mr El Briri died from natural
causes. The Coroner provided the following narrative conclusion:
Yousefe El Briri died at HMP Woodhill, Milton Keynes on 4 July 2023 of natural causes,
namely sudden unexpected death in epilepsy. It is probable that he suffered an
unwitnessed epileptic seizure that morning whilst in his cell. By the time he was found, it
was too late to revive him, despite concerted efforts to do so. Although there were some
shortcomings in the health screening he received on arrival at HMP Woodhill, and in not
seeing him face to face for an epilepsy review, on the balance of probabilities these did not
more than minimally, trivially or negligibly contribute to his death.
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman 1
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Third Floor, 10 South Colonnade Email: mail@ppo.gov.uk T l 020 7633 4100
Canary Wharf, London E14 4PU Web: www.ppo.gov.uk
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