An inmate alleged a fellow inmate, who was awaiting trial for murder, threatened to kill him hours before he was found hanging in his cell at Westgate in July 2008.

Prisoner Lorenzo Robinson, who suffered from schizophrenia and depression and was considered severely mentally ill, was found hanging in his cell, with his hands tightly tied behind him on July 14, 2008 an inquest heard yesterday.

Prison officer David Place told the inquest he spoke with Robinson hours before his death.

"He said [Andre] Hypolite had threatened to kill him," Mr. Place said. "He was particularly upset. He looked like he had tears in his eyes and his voice cracked.

"I had never seen this from him before. I was concerned enough to pass that information on to the next shift."

At the time Hypolite was awaiting a retrial for murder, he has since been found guilty.

Mr. Place also said Robinson requested that his cell door not be opened at the same time as Hypolite's, or Shannon Tucker's cell door, who was also awaiting trial for murder and has since been found guilty, because he feared they would attack him.

Under cross examination from Queen's Counsel Saul Froomkin, representing the Robinson family, Mr. Place said he did not file a Section 35 report after he had seen how upset Robinson was about the alleged threats by Tucker and Hypolite. The report would have requested a medical officer evaluate the prisoner.

Robinson was sent to Westgate indefinitely after being acquitted on grounds of insanity of attempting to stab a tourist to death on Front Street in 2002.

Experts said during his trial in 2004 that he was highly dangerous and required long-term detention and treatment in a secure psychiatric facility.

They recommended he be kept in specialised cells, which Bermuda does not have.

Robinson obtained a ruling from Chief Justice Richard Ground four months before his death that his condition required him to be treated in a secure forensic psychiatric unit and that so-called "hospital cells" at Westgate were no such thing.

The Chief Justice asked for Robinson's care to be reconsidered including the possibility of sending him overseas but he remained in Westgate until he died.

Yesterday, Jamiko Bean, who was a prisoner in the segregation wing at the time of Robinson's death, told the court he thought the inmate was unfairly treated by some prison officers.

In particular he alleged a prison officer, known as "Bootsie", threatened Robinson after he smeared faeces on his cell walls five days before his death and said: "If you keep up this dumb sh*t I am going to allow two of those guys doors' to be open when we open yours."

Bean also alleged that information he had given in his statement had been omitted to make it look like the prison officials were doing their job properly.

He added: "I have nothing to gain [from this testimony] I won't get brownie points in prison; I will probably get hassled because of what I have said."

The court heard that batteries were found in Robinson's room along with a ripped up bedsheet which was tied around his neck when Detective Constable Stephen Palmer of the Police Forensic Support Unit photographed his cell in the segregation wing of Westgate.

Prison officers said these items had not been found in Robinson's room during a routine cell check earlier in the day.

The court heard that Robinson was in a normal single cell in the segregation wing, near people who have been accused of murder.

Previously it was reported that he was in an observation cell at the time of his death, but officers and inmates said yesterday he was in a regular cell.

Several officers said there was no indication Robinson needed to be on suicide watch that day, but acknowledged that he had a history of trying to take his own life in the prison.

The court also heard Robinson lived in filthy cell and had been known to smear his faeces on himself and his cell in an attempt to prevent officers from injecting him with medicine or in retaliation to being injected with medicine.

This caused friction between Robinson and other inmates, in particular Hypolite and Tucker, it was alleged.

Yesterday, Bean recounted his final conversation with the mentally ill patient at approximately 8 p.m. on July 13, 2008.

He said that Robinson told him Tucker had given him a cigarette and added he should have his last smoke before he hung himself.

When Hypolite asked Tucker if he had given Robinson anything to kill himself with, Tucker denied doing so.

According to Bean Robinson then said: "No he just gave me a smoke, I already have everything I need to kill myself."

Robinson told Bean he was fed up of taking medicine and felt no one really cared about him and added: ""I am not going to be here in the morning. When you hear the wind pick up and the rain start you will know I am gone."

Hypolite told a prison officer, referred to as 'Taylor' he was concerned that Robinson would follow through on his threat to commit suicide and told the officer to "keep an eye on him", Bean told the court yesterday.

Later in the evening Bean said he woke up because rain was falling in his window and decided to call out Robinson's name.

When he had no reply after his first attempt he became scared because it was unusual and continued calling his name. He waited to tell the guards on their next check, which are done every 30 minutes.

Approximately 15 minutes later officer 'Taylor' appeared and Bean told him his concerns.

Bean then stopped reading his testimony and turned to Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo and said his written statement differed from what actually happened because it said that an officer did check on Robinson.

"They have left stuff out to make it look like they were doing their jobs, and they weren't," he claimed.

Bean told the court 'Taylor' did not check on Robinson initially and failed to check the room for approximately two hours despite his insistence that something was wrong.

It was only on the fourth check that the officer decided to call in a senior officer when he heard no response, according to Bean who said he stayed up because he was concerned.

He then saw a senior officer slide his hand through the door, after trying to shove it open, and run off. The officer then returned with a knife.

"The next thing I heard was a thud," Bean said. At that point prison officers closed the windows to all the prisoners' cells and they heard several footsteps and walkie-talkies.

Bean told the court that the only prisoner who could see what was going on was Tucker, who was watching from a gap between his door and the floor. According to Bean, Tucker told the other inmates Robinson was on the floor and not moving.

Bean added that room checks were not done down twice a day everyday, previously officers told the court it was procedure to do so at Westgate.

Earlier yesterday corrections officers Mark Wilson and Onslow Virgil said they had checked the room on July 13 in the afternoon and did not find any contraband such as a noose or batteries.

Both said they were aware of Robinson's mental illness and previous suicide attempts, but that they found nothing unusual about his behaviour that day.

Officer Virgil added: "At no time did he suggest to me that he was going to take his own life and at no time did anyone insinuate he was planning to commit suicide," he added.

The inquest continues today, with more prisoners and corrections officers taking the stand.