Man jailed for killing wife dies after hunger strike: MP's efforts fail to persuade prisoner to end 10-day fast. David Connett reports

A MAN serving a life prison sentence for killing his wife died in hospital yesterday after a 10-day hunger strike, despite a deathbed appeal by his constituency MP Tony Newton, leader of the Commons, for him to end his fast.

Hasmukh Madhvani, 49, died at Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, Essex, where he had been transferred from the hospital wing of the town's jail. The prison service has launched an investigation into the circumstances of his death.

Mr Madhvani had been serving his sentence at Highpoint, a category C, low-security prison in Newmarket, Suffolk, where he first refused solids and liquids, a spokesman for the service said yesterday. He had already served 13 years for the killing in 1981. He consistently denied murdering her, maintaining that it was a suicide pact that went wrong. As his condition deteriorated he was transferred to Chelmsford last Friday then to hospital on Saturday.

Prison authorities said they were mystified by his hunger strike. 'We have no idea why he refused food and water. Several efforts were made to speak to him but he refused to speak to the prison authorities. He stopped speaking to anybody about three years ago, we believe,' the spokesman said. The governor at Highpoint will carry out an investigation into the circumtances of the death, he added.

Tony Newton, MP for Braintree, visited the man on Sunday night. Mr Newton contacted Michael Howard, the Home Secretary, who ordered Mr Madhvani's temporary release from prison on licence. Mr Newton told Mr Madhvani he was being released but it failed to discourage him from the hunger strike.

Mr Newton, in a statement released through Conservative Central Office, said yesterday: 'The hunger strike was brought to my attention on Friday by Mr Madhvani's relatives as their constituency MP.

'At various times on Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday I spoke with the Prison Service, Home Office ministers, and the consultant in charge of the case. On Sunday I spent several hours at the hospital and spoke with Mr Madhvani. I am simply sad that it did not prove possible to prevent the unhappy outcome.'

A recommendation to deport Mr Madhvani, who is of Ugandan- Asian origin, was rescinded soon after he was sentenced, the prison service spokesman said.

Campaigners for prisoners' rights claimed his death was preventable. Prison Watch, a pressure group, said it wanted to know why Mr Madhvani was only transferred to hospital one day before his death.

Tim Taggett, a spokesman, said: 'He was protesting his sentence would hang over him when he was released. It is a serious indictment of our prison service that a prisoner should feel he has no option but to end his life in this way. We want to know if he was given the appropriate care and medical treatment.'