Rapist ‘had been dead for some time’ before being found in Cambs prison

He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2015

A rapist who died inside a Cambridgeshire prison “had been dead for some time” before his body was found by prison officers. Jason Sedgwick, 40, died at HMP Littlehey on January 25 following convictions for a number of sex offfences which happened in Long Eaton in Derbyshire more than 10 years ago.

He pleaded guilty to rape in 2015 and was handed a 16-year jail sentence. Derby Crown Court heard how he had raped a woman on the grounds of Long Eaton Library after a night out. He was also sentenced for two sexual assaults which happened before the rape. He denied the charges but was found guilty by a jury on both counts.

The Prison and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) launched an investigation inth Sedgwick’s death in January after his cause of death was confirmed to be cardiac arrhythmia and ischaemic heart disease. The PPO found that prison officers failed to properly check on Sedgwick during routine head counts, which meant he had likely been dead for some time before his body was found.

The report also found that his health was not properly monitored. Sedgwick had a BMI of 40 in 2022, which is well above the NHS‘ ‘obese’ threshold which is set at 30. In a post-mortem, Sedgwick’s weight was recorded as 128kg, 10kg less than when his last BMI measurement had been taken four years prior.

Sedgwick was transferred to HMP Littlehey in June 2021 from HMP Nottingham, and before this change he had seen a nurse and had been prescribed 28 days’ worth of medication for sciatica, anxiety and depression. But when a GP saw Sedgwick for a medication review 10 days before his death, he was still taking the sciatica medication, which he was then advised against because of the risk of developing stomach and kidney issues.

Sedgwick said he wanted to continue on the medication as it was managing his pain and his blood pressure was acceptable. But the PPO found that he didn’t regularly attend the prison’s healthcare department and he hadn’t undergone an NHS health check before his death. The health check would have measured his liver function and cholestrol levels to determine his risk of having a heart attack or a stroke.

Following his death, more than 1,000 tablets were found under his bed. Whilst toxicology reports didn’t identify an excess of medication in his system at his time of death, the PPO said it was “concerning” that this had not been monitored.

The PPO also said that the officer’s head count on the day of the 40-year-old’s death was “ineffective”. When Sedgwick’s cell was checked during the 7am roll check on the day of his death, the prison officer didn’t turn on the night light. He claims it was dark and he didn’t have a torch as these aren’t provided by the prison. He claimed he could hear Sedgwick snoring and “interpreted it as a sign of life before moving on with his checks”.

At 8.45am on the same morning, another officer started unlocking prisoners and when opening Sedgwick’s cell, found him face down on the floor. When he was found, he was “cold and rigid”. An ambulance was called and he was pronounced dead at 9.21am.

The prison’s head of safety told the PPO that at the time of Sedgwick’s death, the prison didn’t give staff torches however they have now been purchased for night staff.

An inquest into Sedgwick’s death on July 9 concluded that he died of natural causes. He’s the 42nd inmate to die at the prison since January 2022. Of those previous deaths, 37 were natural causes and four were self-inflicted.

The Prison Service has been contacted for comment.