March 2013
Sex offender died of ‘natural causes’
A STAFFORD Prison inmate who sexually abused two young boys in the 1980s died from a complication of appendicitis while serving his sentence.
Anthony Smith, 67, was jailed for nine years in August 2008 after admitting 15 sexual offences.
A Stafford inquest heard on Monday that Smith, formerly of Lexington Court, Abbey Street, Nuneaton, had been at Stafford Prison since November 2008 and suffered from a number of health issues, including constipation.
In June 2011 the former engineer underwent a hip replacement at Stafford Hospital, which appeared to have been successful.
But on July 22 he returned to hospital suffering from abdominal pain and a raised temperature.
He was diagnosed with constipation, prescribed medication to relieve the condition and discharged.
On July 25 he was still constipated, and was examined by prison GP Dr Daniel Ndukwe, who told the inquest his temperature had fallen to a normal level.
But on July 26 he was found to be “delirious” by fellow prison GP, Dr Henry Obi. “His abdomen was distended (swollen), his pulse was very quick and his colour was grey,” Dr Obi told the inquest at Stafford Crown Court.
Smith was taken to Stafford Hospital where a CT scan revealed he had necrotising fasciitis, an infection of the soft tissue. He was anaesthetised and surgery was started to remove the dead tissue from his body.
Surgery was abandoned when medics deemed his condition, which affected the area from his neck to his thighs, unsurvivable.
He was transferred to the recovery area and kept in a comfortable condition, but continued to deteriorate.
He was pronounced dead at 4.40pm that day.
A post mortem revealed Smith’s appendix was inflamed and his cause of death was given as necrotising fasciitis due to acute appendicitis.
Pathologist Dr Stephen Harris told the inquest Smith had also suffered kidney failure.
But Dr Ndukwe told the inquest he was surprised that Smith had suffered acute appendicitis.
“If he had appendicitis he would have been more obviously unwell and his fever would have got worse rather than resolved,” he added.
Dr Theresa Bentley from Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust told the inquest that appendicitis was a difficult condition to diagnose because “the position of the appendix varies from person to person and you get different symptoms.” South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust carried out a clinical review of the case, the inquest heard, and recommendations made included better communication between the Prison Service and the hospital’s accident and emergency department.
Lynn Tolley from the PCT said that information given to the department about Smith’s condition on July 22 was “incomplete”, meaning staff relied on details from Smith himself. Measures have now been put in place including the creation of a standardised clinical letter which can now be given to staff when a prisoner is transferred to hospital.
The inquest was told that Smith was in a single cell when he was taken ill, to enable him room to mobilise following his hip operation, but would have had access to a bell to call prison staff if he needed help.
Paul Cotton, from the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, said the care Smith received was “equitable to what he would have expected to receive out in the community”.
A jury returned a verdict of death by natural causes.
