Donald Glenn

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Independent investigation into
the death of Mr Donald Glenn,
a prisoner at HMP Wymott,
on 7 July 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
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OFFICIAL - FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
© Crown copyright, 2026
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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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 December 2022, Mr Donald Glenn was sentenced to 17 years imprisonment for
sexual offences. He died of heart disease on 7 July 2025 at HMP Wymott. He was
78 years old. We offer our condolences to Mr Glenn’s family and friends.
4. The Ombudsman’s office wrote to Mr Glenn’s next of kin to explain the investigation
and to ask if they had any matters they wanted us to consider. They raised several
queries about Mr Glenn’s healthcare, which have been addressed in the clinical
reviewer’s report.
5. NHS England commissioned an independent clinical reviewer to review Mr Glenn’s
clinical care at Wymott.
6. The clinical reviewer concluded that the clinical care Mr Glenn received at Wymott
was of a reasonable standard and equivalent to that which he could have expected
to receive in the community. The clinical reviewer made two recommendations not
related to Mr Glenn’s death that the Head of Healthcare will wish to address.
7. The PPO investigator investigated the non-clinical issues relating to Mr Glenn’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,
Practice Plus Group. They pointed out two minor factual inaccuracies in the clinical
reviewer’s report. These have been corrected and an amended version has been
attached as an annex.
10. We sent a copy of our initial report to Mr Glenn’s next of kin. They did not notify us
of any factual inaccuracies.
Adrian Usher February 2026
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman
Inquest
At the inquest, held on 12 March 2026, the Coroner concluded that Mr Glenn died from
natural causes.
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