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A UNION leader wiped away his tears at the Prison Officers’ Association’s (POA) annual conference today as he told of a colleague’s suicide while suspended from work.
National executive council member Ian Carson became tearful as he moved a motion calling for monthly mental health referrals for suspended members.
He said: “Last year a close personal friend was suspended … what nobody knew was the amount of anguish this man was going through, he ended up taking his own life.
“It should never happen, we need to support suspended staff and we need to make sure they are getting these mental health referrals, we have to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
Delegates backed the motion.
Mr Carson told the Morning Star that he believed his friend, whom he declined to identify due to the risk of intruding into his family’s grief, would still be alive with such a referral.
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