Derek Thompson

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Independent investigation into
the death of Mr Derek Thompson,
a prisoner at HMP Stafford,
on 26 August 2024
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
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© 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
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Summary
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. Mr Derek Thompson died of colon cancer on 26 August 2024 at HMP Stafford. He
was 67 years old. We offer our condolences to Mr Thompson’s family and friends.
4. The clinical reviewer concluded that the clinical care Mr Thompson received at
Stafford was equivalent to that which he could have expected to receive in the
community.
5. Mr Thompson was restrained by single handcuffs (when one cuff is applied to the
prisoner’s wrist and the other to an officer’s) when taken to his hospital
appointments, some of which were for chemotherapy treatment. The use of
restraints on Mr Thompson was not justified. Staff failed to consider his health and
his category D status (which meant he was trusted to be held in open conditions).
Recommendations
• The Governor should ensure that:
• all staff undertaking risk assessments for prisoners attending hospital
appointments consider the prisoner’s security category and their current
health, and if the prisoner is attending for chemotherapy treatment, restraints
are authorised only where they can be justified in line with prison policy, and
• there is a robust quality assurance process in place to check that these
measures are in place and effective.
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The Investigation Process
6. HMPPS notified us of Mr Thompson’s death on 26 August 2024.
7. NHS England commissioned an independent clinical reviewer to review Mr
Thompson’s clinical care at HMP Stafford.
8. The PPO investigator investigated the non-clinical issues relating to Mr Thompson’s
care.
9. The Ombudsman’s office contacted Mr Thompson’s wife to explain the investigation
and to ask if she had any matters she wanted us to consider. She asked for a copy
of our report.
10. We shared our initial report with HMPPS and the prison’s healthcare provider,
Practice Plus Group. They found no factual inaccuracies. HMPPS provided an
action plan which is annexed to this report.
11. We sent a copy of our initial report to Mr Thompson’s wife. She did not notify us of
any factual inaccuracies.
Previous deaths at HMP Stafford
12. Mr Thompson was the 29th prisoner to die at Stafford since August 2021. Of the
previous deaths, 25 were from natural causes and three were self-inflicted.
13. We have previously made recommendations in two cases on the inappropriate use
of restraints on prisoners attending hospital while at Stafford. However, the
circumstances of this case were considerably different.
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Key Events
14. In September 2018, Mr Derek Thompson was sentenced to 14 years in prison for
sexual offences. On 22 May 2019, he was moved to HMP Stafford.
15. In 2021, Mr Thompson was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer and received
treatment.
16. In March 2024, Mr Thompson was told that the cancer had returned and was
terminal.
17. On 26 March, healthcare and prison staff started an application for early release on
compassionate grounds for Mr Thompson.
18. Between April and August, Mr Thompson attended numerous hospital
appointments. For each of these appointments the authorising manager decided
that single cuffs (where a set of handcuffs is used to attach a prisoner’s wrist to an
officer’s wrist) should be used. Some of these appointments (one in April, May,
June and July) were for palliative chemotherapy.
19. On 21 May, Mr Thompson was recategorised from category C to category D (staff
had assessed that he no longer needed to be kept in closed conditions and could
be trusted in an open prison).
20. On 29 July, the Public Protection Casework Section (PPCS) of HMPPS rejected Mr
Thompson’s application for early release on compassionate grounds. PPCS
concluded that Mr Thompson’s risk could not be safely managed in the community
and there was no evidence that he was in the last few months of his life.
21. Mr Thompson died on 26 August in Stafford’s palliative care wing.
Cause of death
22. The coroner accepted the cause of death provided by a hospital doctor and no post-
mortem examination was carried out. The doctor gave Mr Thompson’s cause of
death as metastatic caecum adenocarcinoma (colon cancer that has spread to
other parts of the body).
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Findings
Clinical care
23. The clinical reviewer concluded that Mr Thompson’s clinical care was equivalent to
that which he could have expected to receive in the community. He found that Mr
Thompson was referred appropriately and received timely treatment in the form of
chemotherapy and surgery to help manage his advanced colon cancer. When his
condition advanced in 2024 to the extent that he required palliative care, he
received holistic and comprehensive care from the medical team in HMP Stafford
and was able to see specialists in his cell to enable him to have a planned and
dignified death.
Restraints, security and escorts
24. The Prison Service has a duty to protect the public when escorting prisoners
outside prison, such as to hospital. It also has a responsibility to balance this by
treating prisoners with humanity. The level of restraints used should be necessary
in all the circumstances and based on a risk assessment, which considers the risk
of escape, the risk to the public and takes into account the prisoner’s health and
mobility. A judgment in the High Court in 2007 made it clear that prison staff need to
distinguish between a prisoner’s risk of escape when fit (and the risk to the public in
the event of an escape) and the prisoner’s risk when suffering from a serious
medical condition. It said that medical opinion about the prisoner’s ability to escape
must be considered as part of the assessment process and kept under review as
circumstances change.
25. The Prevention of Escape: External Escorts policy framework states that an escort
risk assessment must take into consideration a prisoner’s security category. There
was no evidence the authorising manager considered Mr Thompson’s category D
status when completing the escort risk assessment. The policy framework also
states the use of restraints on a prisoner receiving chemotherapy (or other
lifesaving treatment) is degrading and inhumane unless justified by other relevant
considerations.
26. We asked the Head of Security about the level of restraint used in this case and he
said that as Mr Thompson was held at a category C prison, he would have been
subject to the standard cuffing arrangements for category C prisoners, which was
single cuffs. When asked if there were any circumstances in which no cuffs would
be used, he gave examples of elderly men with mobility issues.
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27. The use of restraints on Mr Thompson was wholly inappropriate in our view. Not
only was he a category D prisoner from 21 July onwards (so assessed as very low
risk of escape), he was terminally ill with cancer and was receiving palliative
chemotherapy. We recommend:
The Governor should ensure that:
• all staff undertaking risk assessments for prisoners attending hospital
appointments consider the prisoner’s security category and their
current health, and if the prisoner is attending for chemotherapy
treatment, restraints are authorised only where they can be justified in
line with prison policy, and
• there is a robust quality assurance process in place to check that these
measures are in place and effective.
Adrian Usher
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman March 2025
Inquest
The inquest, held on 22 May 2025, concluded that Mr Thompson died from natural causes.
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman 5
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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
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