A 31-year-old woman who died the day she was released from prison was failed by the local authority and others responsible for her care, possibly contributing to her death, an inquest has found.
The “extremely vulnerable” Colleen Madden left prison for the fourth time in the space of five months on 13 January 2025. She had been convicted of violent offences but was recalled to prison several times after her initial release in September 2024.
Colleen was born and raised in Camden, and had lived with ADHD, trauma and learning disabilities. In the years leading up to her imprisonment, the mother of two had repeatedly experienced homelessness, physical and sexual harm, and substance dependency.
She also sustained a “life-changing” brain injury following a road traffic collision in 2018, roughly six years before she left prison for the first time. Despite positive rehabilitation after the incident, the deaths of her father shortly after and her sister in 2023 led to her “crisis and relapse”, an official report stated.
After she was released from HMP Bronzefield in January 2025, Colleen presented to Camden Council’s adult social care services where she underwent what the coroner described as an “inadequate and confused assessment”. That evening the council placed her alone in an interim hotel in King’s Cross, with no support arrangements in place.
Colleen was found dead on 16 January 2025. Medical evidence indicated she had died shortly after she came to the hotel. Social workers had tried to visit her on 15 January, but her body was not discovered until police gained entry to the room the following day.
At an inquest held in October 2026, assistant coroner Melanie Lee concluded that Colleen was “let down” by agencies in what she described as a “chain of missed opportunities”.
“Without a doubt”, the coroner said, “Colleen deserved and should have been given something better”.
Camden Council came under fire for placing her in “unsuitable accommodation in an unsuitable location”. Had the council fulfilled its statutory duties, Lee added, she may not have died in the place and manner that she did.
In the aftermath of her death, Camden’s Safeguarding Adults Board (CASB) commissioned a safeguarding inquiry, which noted the “emotional toll” that repeated recalls to prison had on Colleen the final months of her life. The Safeguarding Adults Review (SAR) report noted that Colleen’s “rapid” recalls were due to her being evicted from bail hostels for “aggressive” behaviour, which was not viewed through the lens of trauma.
In the UK, prisoners can be returned to prison if the probation service believes minor breaches of probation or licence conditions since their release can be managed within a short period back in custody.
The review concluded: “Although Colleen’s behaviour could be aggressive and unpredictable, it is difficult to identify from case records how this was considered in connection to feelings of mistrust, prior harmful experiences or concerns about being once again recalled to prison.”
In September 2024, the council’s housing department decided she lacked capacity to make a homelessness application. This meant the duty to accommodate her shifted to adult social care (ASC), who accepted their responsibility but did not communicate this clearly in writing. Without confirmation, the other agencies assumed ASC had rejected its duty.
In mid-to-late December 2024, The Probation Service requested a Care Act assessment, but the prison failed to act on this before her release. The Prison and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) said it referred Colleen’s case to the council the same month, but the council had no record of this on its systems.
Social workers had conducted a brief, single interaction with Colleen at the council offices on 31 December 2024, which judged she had mental capacity. But this failed to check if this was in flux, or for any cognitive impairment stemming from her brain injury and substance dependency.
The prison later called an urgent pre-release meeting for Colleen on 10 January, three days before her release. Camden did not send a representative from adult social care because of the short notice, the council said, adding that the prison had only revealed “very late” she was due for release after 12 days’ recall. Because of the late notice, social care services booked her into a temporary hotel for one week.
Following the inquest, Colleen’s family said: “We miss our sister beyond words. She was our everything, and she deserved compassion, dignity, and proper care. Instead, we feel she became little more than an administrative task, with no one taking responsibility for her needs.”
“The inquest has highlighted the importance of proper training for those working with vulnerable adults, so that no other woman has to endure what Colleen did,” they added.
Bhatt Murphy Solicitors, representing the family, said the inquest “exposed repeated failures to assess, coordinate and plan for the safe release from prison of an exceptionally vulnerable woman whose risks and support needs were well known”.
Camden Council said it has since improved support for prison leavers and information sharing between the council, probation services and other partner agencies, progressing an action plan overseen by CSAB.
“Our deepest sympathies remain with Colleen’s family and friends following her tragic death. Ensuring vulnerable residents are supported and safeguarded is a responsibility that we take extremely seriously,” a spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
The council said it will now “carefully consider” the coroner’s findings to identify any further gaps in support for prison leavers and vulnerable residents, and find ways to improve staff training.
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