Report of the Inquiry into the circumstances of the Death of Bernard ...

Chapter 1
SONNY LODGE AND AN OUTLINE OF THE EVENTS WHEN HE WAS IN PRISON
Summary
1.1 This chapter introduces Sonny Lodge 1 and gives an outline of the events that are
examined in detail later in the report.
Sonny Lodge
1.2 Bernard Joseph Lodge was born in Manchester on 6 August 1970. When he died
in Manchester prison on Saturday 28 August 1998, he was 28 years old. Bernard was
known in the family as Sonny. When he was two, Sonny and his two sisters were placed
in an orphanage in Dublin. Boys and girls were separated and Sonny rarely saw his
sisters. When Sonny was seven, their mother returned and took the children to live in
Manchester. Sonny’s sister says their mother’s partner had a bad temper and often hit
Sonny. Their natural father died in 1982 and their mother in 1991.
1.3 At the age of 17, Sonny became father to a daughter. His son was born the
following year. From 1986 to 1992 Sonny lived with his children and their mother. Sonny
was using hard drugs and their mother was concerned for the children. Sonny left the
family home but remained in touch with the children and their mother.
1.4 In a prison record, Sonny’s occupation was recorded as being a joiner and a
friend said that in 1998 he worked in a garage for a time; but, from December 1986 to
October 1997, he incurred 22 convictions, mainly for small-scale property offences or
breach of court orders. There was one offence of violence, causing actual bodily harm, in
1986. Sonny served short prison sentences in 1994 and 1996. On 15 June 1998, he was
sent to Risley prison on a sentence of five months for shoplifting and breach of bail. He
was due to be released from prison on licence on 28 August.
1.5 Sonny’s family say his convictions were related to his drug dependence. When
Sonny arrived at Risley in June 1998, he had a longstanding heroin habit, and smoked
1 I have thought carefully about what to call Sonny Lodge in this report. To call him Sonny risks suggesting a
familiar relationship that the inquiry should not claim, or treating this 28 year old man as a child not
responsible for his actions. But to say Mr Lodge sometimes seems artificial and too formal and distant for the
person at the heart of this inquiry. Bernard was his given name but he was not generally known by it. I
considered using initials as being a neutral form but that seemed too impersonal. Sonny Lodge was known
differently by different people. I have decided mainly to use the names Sonny or Sonny Lodge by which he
was known to friends and family. I hope that this will not offend any of the people reading this report and that
it will not be misinterpreted as bias.
2