Colin Price

OFFICIAL - FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
Independent investigation into
the death of Mr Colin Price,
a prisoner at HMP Birmingham,
on 23 January 2025
A report by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman
Third Floor, 10 South Colonnade Email: mail@ppo.gov.uk T l 020 7633 4100
Canary Wharf, London E14 4PU Web: www.ppo.gov.uk
OFFICIAL - FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
OFFICIAL - FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
© Crown copyright, 2025
This report is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0. To view this licence,
visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3
Where we have identified any third-party copyright information you will need to obtain permission
from the copyright holders concern
OFFICIAL - FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
1. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman aims to make a significant contribution to
safer, fairer custody and community supervision. One of the most important ways in
which we work towards that aim is by carrying out independent investigations into
deaths, due to any cause, of prisoners, young people in detention, residents of
approved premises and detainees in immigration centres.
2. If my office is to best assist His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) in
ensuring the standard of care received by those within service remit is appropriate,
our recommendations should be focused, evidenced and viable. This is especially
the case if there is evidence of systemic failure.
3. In November 2023, Mr Colin Price was sentenced to 14 years in prison for sex
offences. He died in a hospice on 23 January 2025, while a prisoner at HMP
Birmingham. The Coroner has given his provisional cause of death as chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, the term for a group of serious lung
diseases). Mr Price was 85 years old. We offer our condolences to his family and
friends.
4. The Ombudsman’s office wrote to Mr Price’s next of kin to explain the investigation
and to ask if they had any matters they wanted us to consider. They did not
respond.
5. NHS England commissioned an independent clinical reviewer to review Mr Price’s
clinical care at HMP Birmingham.
6. The clinical reviewer concluded that the clinical care Mr Price received at
Birmingham was of a good standard and was equivalent to that which he could
have expected to receive in the community. She made no recommendations.
7. The PPO investigator investigated the non-clinical issues relating to Mr Price’s care.
8. We did not find any non-clinical issues of concern. We make no recommendations.
9. We shared our initial report with HMPPS and the prison’s healthcare provider,
Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. They found no
factual inaccuracies.
10. At the inquest, held on 28 July 2025, the Coroner confirmed that Mr Price had died
from COPD and concluded that his death was from natural causes.
Adrian Usher August 2025
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman 1
OFFICIAL - FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
OFFICIAL - FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
Third Floor, 10 South Colonnade Email: mail@ppo.gov.uk T l 020 7633 4100
Canary Wharf, London E14 4PU Web: www.ppo.gov.uk
OFFICIAL - FOR PUBLIC RELEASE