A prisoner died just weeks before he was due to marry his "soulmate" upon being released from jail.
Andy Hamlin died of heart failure at Hull Royal Infirmary on July 31, 2020, after being transferred from prison where he had been serving a sentence on and off since 2013.
While briefly out of jail in 2019, he met his soul mate Liz Brown when he visited a charity shop in York where she worked.
That Christmas, Andy proposed and the couple planned to get married the following November, Hull Live reports.
An inquest heard how the dad-of-four had been referred for a hospital appointment after being diagnosed with heart disease in early 2020, which he never attended due to harsh coronavirus restrictions in place at the time.
The offences that the security guard had previously committed were not disclosed at the inquest hearing.
During his time in jail, there were concerns among staff at Hull Prison that the inmate was refusing to take his medication in a bid to be released early on health grounds.
Following the inquest, which concluded Andy died of ‘natural causes’, Liz paid tribute to her partner, who she phoned twice a day while he was in prison.
She told HullLive: “Andy was bubbly, caring and friendly. He was just a great man to be around. I am just glad to have known him.
“He kept coming into the shop and little did I know at the time it was because of me. Normally, I wouldn’t have given him the time of day but he asked me on a date.
“He proposed at Christmas 2019. Neither of us had been married in a church before and that is what we'd hoped to do with our family and friends there.”
Andy had four children from three different relationships while Liz also had four children and had been married twice.
While not revealing what Andy did to earn a jail term, Liz says she was in a position to give him a second chance.
She said: “I have a son who suffers from mental health issues and I can understand what happened with Andy. He has turned his life around and he deserved a second chance.
“My son has gone through similar mental health issues so I felt I understand what he had gone through.
“Andy was really happy in the weeks before his death, even though he was unwell. He seemed to have handled lockdown well. We had talked about our plans for the future.
“Andy gave me so much love and treated me like every woman should be treated. We both felt that unconditional love. We just clicked. I just wish he was still here. He is sadly missed.”
Liz was last able to see Andy in prison in March 2020 before lockdown restrictions came into effect. She never saw him in person again after that.
She was told to come to the hospital when Andy was in a bad way but she arrived shortly after he died.
The inquest heard how Andy had a number of health problems, including diabetes, asthma, chronic back pain and obesity. He had also suffered mental health problems. Andy had been feeling ill with vomiting, stomach pains and loss of appetite a couple of weeks prior to his death.
Medical staff at the prison were concerned Andy was not managing his diabetes very well and nurses began to supervise his insulin intake and diet. But there was also evidence Andy may have been deliberately trying to make himself ill to get early release.
In a statement, his cell mate said: “Me and Andy got on very well and we had a laugh together. He said he had a fiancée and they were planning to get married when he was released in November.
“But I overhead one conversation between him and his partner where he said he would get out more quickly if he was ill as they wouldn’t want him there.
“I had concerns he had not been taking his insulin and he sometimes poured it down the sink. Andy had told nurses he hadn’t always been taking his insulin because he couldn’t eat and should take it with food."
Shortly after, Andy began to feel unwell and an echocardiogram revealed something potentially abnormal with his heart.
A clinical report was carried out by the City Health Care Partnership and, as part of the investigation, an email was received from the cardiology department within the Hull University Teaching Hospitals Trust.
The email explained a request for appointment had been made but a date had not been offered before Andy’s death due to the pressures of Covid.
Staff from cardiology had been redeployed to Covid wards during the pandemic and there was a backlog of appointments.
A statement was also read out from Andy’s former partner with whom he had one daughter, which said Andy grew up in Essex but was estranged from his family.
She said: “He had two brothers and a sister but they seemed to have fallen out. I never really found out much about his childhood and family.“ Later I heard he was in prison. But he was a bubbly character. He laughed and joked and made people laugh. He just got on with people.
“He later messaged me on Facebook and I found out he had a new girlfriend. But he sometimes spoke to our daughter.
“His death came as a shock to me and our daughter and she was very upset to lose her dad at such a young age. He was into the Hell’s Angels and loved motorbikes but he was not into things likes sports at all.
“Andy was working as a security guard at a train station when I met him. We had our ups and downs. I fell pregnant but then we split up but got together again just before my daughter was born. But we split up again and he moved to Cornwall."
A Prison Ombudsman report found there were no concerns with the treatment Andy had received in prison. Area Coroner Lorraine Harris accepted the cause of death was multiple organ failure resulting from heart failure. She said heart disease caused the heart failure while diabetes and obesity also contributed.
She accepted there were no concerns about the treatment Andy received. She noted the fact the cardiology appointment had been made but he had not been seen before his death. However, she said there was nothing to suggest such an appointment would have saved his life.
She said: “My sincere condolences to his family and friends. It is evident to me that he and his partner were planning a future together.
“It is very upsetting to know they were unable to see that through due to his tragic death.”
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