A rapist who delayed justice by failing to show for court died in prison less than one year into his sentence.
Paul Dixon, formerly of Fulwood, was eventually given a nine year jail sentence in his absence in September 2023 after a two-month delay caused by him repeatedly missing court hearings. Each time he had claimed to be too unwell due to his cancer diagnosis but he had managed to travel abroad for a holiday in the same period.
The sentence came some five years after the he raped a woman he’d met online, with lengthy delays despite her reporting the offence straight away. As reported last year, the victim had to appeal against an initial decision not to take action and then saw further delays due to covid, a barristers’ strike and Dixon’s failure to show up at court.
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During the long delay for justice, Dixon received a terminal bowel cancer diagnosis and he died at HMP Preston in September 2024 while awaiting a decision on his request for early release on compassionate grounds (ERCG). He was 56-years-old.
As with all inmate deaths, an investigation was carried out by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman and concluded following an inquest in November which found he died of natural causes.
Despite questions from Dixons’ family about his healthcare and the length of time to consider his early release request, the PPO found no concerns.
It concluded: “The PPO investigator investigated the non-clinical issues relating to Mr Dixon’s care. We did not find any non-clinical issues of concern. The last ERCG application was submitted on 29 May and was refused on 18 June (after Mr Dixon had died). We found no undue delay with the application process.
“NHS England commissioned an independent clinical reviewer to review Mr Dixon’s clinical care at HMP Preston. The clinical reviewer concluded that the care Mr Dixon received at Preston was of a good standard and equivalent to that which he could have expected to receive in the community.”
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