A serial thief died just 10 days after being released from HMP Durham after failing to see his GP about a kidney infection.
Brian Douglas Kerr had been recalled to prison in March last year after breaching his licence conditions. Over the years, Kerr had twice served time behind bars for stealing purses from pensioners.
TeessideLive reports in 2014, Kerr was jailed for three-and-a-half years after he followed a 79-year-old woman and got into her Eaglescliffe home while she was not wearing her hearing aids. She discovered Kerr and he tried to claim he had brought back some keys she had left in a shop.
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But she knew he was lying and he began asking her to give him change for a pound coin. The burglar then picked up a cup in her kitchen and helped himself to a drink of water before snatching her purse - which contained around £50 - and fleeing.
Then in 2017, Kerr was locked up again after he was caught dipping his hand into his victim’s bag while she was shopping in Iceland in Billingham and snatching her purse. The footage, captured on the town centre store’s CCTV, was uploaded to Facebook in a bid to catch the crook, and soon went viral.
Kerr, who lived in Hartlepool at the time, was jailed for six months.
In the two weeks before he was due to be released on October 5, 2022, urine tests suggested something was wrong with Kerr's kidneys - which he was informed about by HMP Durham's GP - states a prison and probation ombudsman report. He said he would see his GP when he was released and denied further tests.
Kerr, who was a known heroin user, submitted a friend's home as his proposed release address but was told it could not be approved as there was no contact number. A member of the pre-release team made a referral under the "duty to refer scheme" - which is used to refer people for accommodation if they are homeless.
She then emailed Kerr's community offender manager to let her know this had been completed and a Commissioned Rehabilitative Services (CRS) referral need to be made. However this was never done.
Kerr, who was 59, was released from prison and accepted a naloxone kit - which includes medication to rapidly reverse opioid overdose. He received a letter within his release paperwork which told him to present to the council as homeless.
Kerr didn't attend Stockton Probation Centre as instructed on his release although he did attend START - a community-based drug and alcohol service - to collect his prescription of methadone. His community offender manager was informed and asked the service give Kerr her number so he could call her to arrange an appointment - or if he could not contact her he should attend the probation office on October 14.
He did not contact his manager or attend the appointment. That night he stayed at a friend's home and the next morning they were unable to wake Kerr.
His community offender manager found that he had died following a social media post four days later. A post mortem report concluded that Kerr died of acute on chronic pyelonephritis - a sudden and severe kidney infection. It said while chronic drug use did not cause his death it did contribute to it in some way.
The prison and probation ombudsman report states: "Once released into the community, it is the individual’s responsibility to manage their own health care. Mr Kerr chose not to engage with community health care and did not seek any treatment for his kidney condition.
"We are satisfied that prison healthcare staff notified Mr Kerr’s community GP of his care needs and handed over his care when he was released."
One recommendation was made to the Head of the Stockton-on-Tees Probation Delivery Unit to ensure that staff make CRS accommodation referrals for prisoners facing homelessness. The report states it is "unlikely that this would have altered the accommodation situation for Mr Kerr but should nevertheless have been done".
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