The family of a convicted paedophile had to identify his body 15 days after he died due to a prison and police force failing to inform the coroner's office of his death. Former teacher Ronald Wotton was serving a 16-month prison sentence when he died of colon cancer.
The 80-year-old had previously been jailed for five years in 2014 for a string of vile sex offences, Teesside Live reports. Primary school pupils would make themselves sick with washing up liquid to try to avoid Wotton's lessons as the teacher sexually abused them in front of the whole class, a court heard at the time.
Whe the terminally-ill prisoner died in May 2021, the coroner was not informed until a week later - leading to his nephew having to identify his body 15 days after he had died. A fatal incident report, published in July 2022, found that neither the prison nor the police informed the coroner's office of Wotton's death.
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And that the prison’s family liaison officer went on leave five days after the 80-year-old died, meaning there was a period of around two weeks when the next of kin had difficulty contacting anyone at the prison for support and advice. There was also poor communication over the prison’s contribution to the cost of Wotton's funeral.
The terminally-ill prisoner had multiple health conditions, including colitis, and on March 18 last year became unwell with suspected sepsis. He needed to go to hospital for treatment but the prison was unable to facilitate Wotton's transfer to hospital because there were no escort staff available, a fatal incident report has found.
Six hours later he was taken to hospital by emergency ambulance when his condition worsened. There he was diagnosed with urinary sepsis and pneumonia. He was treated and returned to the prison 11 days later.
On April 28, he was admitted to hospital due to a 'flare up' of his ulcerative colitis but his condition continued to deteriorate. He was discharged back to HMP Durham but on May 13, he was taken to hospital by emergency ambulance due to an increase in rectal bleeding.
Nine days later, he was discharged with an advanced palliative care plan and medication for end of life care. His next of kin was informed of his deteriorating health and visited Wotton in prison on May 24.
Wotton, supported by his family, said that he felt he was in the right place and did not want to make an application for compassionate release. He died on May 25.
Pupils made themselves sick to avoid his lessons
In 2014, Wotton admitted 17 counts of indecent assault, three counts of indecency with a male and one of indecency with a child over a 12-year period from the late 1960s. Primary school pupils in County Durham made themselves sick with washing up liquid to try to avoid lessons with the then-teacher who sexually abused them in front of the whole class, a court heard previously.
When one child complained about Ronald Wotton, the headteacher at the school did not believe the allegation and made the pupil apologise to the abuser.
He was allowed to retire in 1980 when a new head, who could not ignore the mounting allegations against the teacher, took over. Wotton was convicted again in December 2020 when further allegations came to light.
Failure to inform the coroner's office
A prison officer called the police to inform them of Wotton's death. The police said that they would not be attending the prison because the Murton man's death was not considered to be suspicious.
The officer challenged this, but the police said that they would not attend and told the prison to contact the funeral directors, according to the report. At 2am on May 26, the undertakers arrived at the prison to take Wotton to a funeral home.
They initially refused to take his body as it had not been formally identified and tagged by the police. A prison officer contacted the police again but they said that they would not be attending.
The officer went to the prison reception, got two wrist bands and wrote Mr Wotton’s details on them. He gave them to the undertakers to attach to Wotton’s body. The undertakers were satisfied and took the body.
However, the coroner’s office was not aware of Wotton’s death until June 1, when Wotton’s nephew told them. The coroner called Wotton’s nephew to identify Wotton’s body 15 days after he had died - causing "Wotton’s family unnecessary and preventable distress".
The report said: "Since Mr Wotton’s death, the coroner’s Office and the prison have raised their concerns with the police about their refusal to attend the prison when Mr Wotton died. The police apologised for failing to attend."
But added that it ultimately becomes the prison's responsibility to ensure the coroner's office is informed. The report adds: "The Governor should ensure that the Death in Custody Contingency plans include instructions on how the inform the coroner of a death in the absence of the police."
Restraints in hospital
Although a clinical reviewer concluded that the care he received was of a good standard and equivalent to what he would have received in the community, concerns were raised that he was not transferred to hospital to receive treatment for suspected sepsis - which is a life threatening condition.
Concerns were also raised that Wotton was restrained over six days he was in hospital with the reviewer saying this was "unsound given his advanced age and poor mobility". The report states: "I am particularly frustrated and disappointed that I am making another recommendation about the inappropriate use of restraints.
"The Governor must tell us what further steps he will take to ensure that frail and very unwell prisoners are not inappropriately restrained in the future."
The report said the reviewer was concerned that the medical section of the risk assessment did not clearly set out the details of Wotton’s current level of health and mobility so that the authorising manager could make an informed decision about the appropriateness of restraints. It stated: "It is not sufficient to say that the prisoner is a wheelchair user as this does not give sufficient detail about the prisoner’s level of mobility.
"The medical section should also have said that Mr Wotton was very frail and ill and was reaching the end of his life."
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Our thoughts remain with Mr Wotton’s family and friends. We welcome the findings of the inquest and have implemented all of the Ombudsman’s recommendations.”
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