The Ringland paedophile, Frederick Heard, died while serving a 16-year prison sentence for the sexual abuse of three youngsters and the locals are fuming. The prisons ombudsman has published a critical report regarding Frederick Heard’s death at Bridgend’s Parc prison, determining that the quality of his dementia care was “entirely unacceptable”.
The ombudsman report has had considerable delays, emerging over six years post the 87-year-old’s demise from pneumonia in August 2019. Frederick Heard, from Ringland in Newport, was imprisoned in 2012 after a Cardiff Crown Court jury convicted him of five charges of indecent assault, six counts of indecency with a child, attempted rape, and two more sexual offences. The offences extended over a period of 30 years, concluding in the mid-1990s.
Ombudsman Sue McAllister stated that several years into Frederick Heard’s incarceration, it became evident that he “was unaware that he was serving a prison sentence and that confinement in a cell resulted in mental anguish and physical harm.”
Frederick Heard’s medical issues were vascular dementia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Since December 2012, jail general practitioners consistently recommended him to the local mental health team for older individuals; however, the agency declined to assist with his care, citing insufficient resources to accommodate prison patients. This stalemate persisted for years.
Ms. McAllister stated that in July 2017, personnel from the jail, healthcare, and social care sectors convened a multidisciplinary conference. “They were apprehensive because Mr. Frederick Heard was agitated, unaware of his imprisonment, and was inflicting harm upon himself by striking his cell door at night.”
In March 2019, prison personnel agreed to install padding on Mr. Frederick Heard’s cell door due to concerns for his safety, as he repeatedly struck it.
Three days later, Frederick Heard was admitted to the hospital due to an injury sustained to his hand from striking the cell door. He contracted pneumonia and was hospitalised for 10 days.
Upon returning to Parc, his health significantly declined, especially his dyspnoea due to COPD.
In July, he was hospitalised again, and the subsequent month, he succumbed to bronchopneumonia. He was awarded compassionate release on the day of his demise.
Ms. McAllister stated, “Shortly after Mr. Frederick Heard’s arrival at Parc, it became evident that he was unaware of his incarceration.” I am deeply troubled that disputes regarding the funding for the assessment and support of Mr. Frederick Heard’s dementia resulted in his needs being unmet, so adversely impacting his quality of life.
“This stalemate should have been promptly addressed by Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board, now referred to as Swansea Bay University Health Board. It is entirely unacceptable that the situation persisted for years and remained unresolved at the time of Mr. Frederick Heard’s demise.”
A clinical reviewer concluded: “It appears somewhere in this argument over funding that managers or clinicians in the NHS health board forgot that a patient was suffering at the heart of this, leading to significant distress for him, other prisoners, and indeed the HMP Parc staff doing their best for him.”
The ombudsman found prison staff did not adequately monitor Frederick Heard’s COPD and that the health board failed for years to provide him with appropriate specialist care for dementia. The report described this as “completely unacceptable”.
[NOTE – A society is NOT judged by the treatment of their peadophiles]
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