A prisoner was found to have been earning nearly £500,000 every couple of months before he died, an investigation has revealed.
Johnpaul Digweed, aged 36, was discovered dead in his cell on April 12, 2024, whilst two years into a 25-year term.
Digweed was sentenced to imprisonment at HMP Garth in Lancashire back in June 2022 for drug supply offences and arrived at the Leyland facility the month following his sentencing.
However, an investigation published today by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman found he had been orchestrating a lucrative illicit enterprise from behind bars.
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The ombudsman’s probe found Digweed had been coordinating aerial contraband drops into the prison using drones which generated between £400,000 and £500,000 every two months.
The inquiry revealed substantial proof of his participation in the prison’s underground narcotics network, alongside evidence he was pursued by criminal organisations beyond the prison walls and troubled by outstanding financial obligations.
Prison staff confiscated mobile phones from Digweed on six separate occasions during his incarceration, the ombudsman’s report documented.
In September 2023, he returned a positive drugs test for cocaine. During the same period, he inflicted shallow cuts upon his own chest, though he rejected offers of assistance from prison staff.
Later that month, on September 27, his laptop computer was confiscated after he caused damage to its screen. The device was not returned to him for half a year.
According to the ombudsman, this prolonged absence of a laptop “impacted on his ability to control aspects of his daily prison life and might have negatively impacted his mental health and ability to maintain family ties”.
Telephone conversations monitored during this period revealed his partnership with his girlfriend was “under strain”, the report noted.
CCTV footage captured four inmates entering Digweed’s cell on November 1, 2023. When examined afterwards, he bore wounds that appeared consistent with being cut by a sharp implement.
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Digweed maintained he had simply fallen, but his security records suggested the attack was connected to narcotics debts and gang affiliations, according to the PPO.
Intelligence gathered from fellow prisoners the day following his death indicated he faced threats from organised criminal groups operating outside the institution and was concerned about money he owed.
A mobile telephone recovered from his cell after his death contained text message exchanges with his partner in which they quarrelled over their relationship. In these messages, Digweed stated he was “sick of” things and said that he “could not be bothered any more”, the report revealed.
Prison officers conducting their evening headcount on April 12 saw Digweed for the final time alive.
By the early hours of the following morning, his cell’s observation panel had been obscured, and it remained blocked when staff performed a welfare inspection at 9.07am.
Those responsible for monitoring him failed to take action, the ombudsman noted.
Around 11.30am, an officer opened Digweed’s cell door without looking inside. He was discovered hanged shortly thereafter.
Ombudsman Adrian Usher stated he found no indication that Digweed faced “heightened or imminent risk of suicide” at the time of his death, though “information received after he died suggested his sentence was putting his relationship under strain and he might have been worried about money”.
Usher expressed concern about a pervasive problem at Garth involving prisoners covering their observation panels, adding that staff did not consistently adhere to procedures for routine and welfare inspections.
The prison has implemented measures to address these issues, he acknowledged.
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