Jailed paedophile died after 'delay in calling ambulance' following Covid outbreak

Clive Pinder, aged 53, and from Smethwick, had been serving time at HMP Risley in Cheshire when there was a coronavirus outbreak on his wing in early February 2021.

He tested positive positive for Covid-19 on February 8 that year and initially showed no signs of illness, a report by the Prisons & Probation Ombudsman (PPO) said.

But two days later, at around 9am, prison officers carried out a welfare check on Pinder's ward after he had complained of illness and found him "shaking severely".

They opened his cell, in which he lived alone, and further found him "panting and groaning" and "unable to speak", stated the report.

It continued: "An officer alerted medical staff and two nurses who saw Mr Pinder noted he was having difficulty breathing.

"An ambulance arrived at HMP Risley at 9.54am, before paramedics treated the convict and found he was "so unwell that he might need to be defibrillated en route to the hospital".

The ambulance got to Warrington Hospital 59 minutes later, at 10.53am.

The next day, Pinder was placed in an induced coma and on a ventilator. He died on February 17 at 6.35pm, six days after arriving at the hospital. His cause of death was given as multi-organ failure caused by Covid-19.

An inquest, held on July 17 this year, concluded Mr Pinder died from natural causes. The investigation by the PPO –which looks into prisoner deaths – found that while he received a "reasonable standard" of care at HMP Risley, the emergency response which took place "did not follow policy".

It said: "The clinical reviewer was concerned about the lack of care planning for prisoners with COVID-19, record keeping and reception screenings, and made several recommendations.

"We found the emergency response on 11 February 2021, did not follow prison policy and there were delays in calling an ambulance.

"There were also significant gaps the family liaison officer’s log and delays in providing us with key funeral documents."

Pinder had been given four years in prison and six years on probation for sexual offences in November 2015 when living in the West Midlands. He had previously been remanded to HMP Birmingham but was transferred to HMP Nottingham that same day.

In January 2018 he was released to a probation hotel in Leicester and in April that year was moved to an approved premises in the Smethwick area so he could be closer to his mother but absconded on the first night.

On December 17, 2020, he was then transferred to HMP Risley in the Croft area of Warrington.

After the report into Pinder's death by the PPO, recommendations were given to the prison's head of healthcare and HMP Risley's governor. It also recommended that following a death in custody, the family liaison officer (FLO) maintains an accurate log with all significant contacts and that the prison provide relevant documents when requested.