Johnpaul Digweed was found hanged in his cell at HMP Garth after a Prisons and Probation Ombudsman report said he had been making between £400,000 and £500,000 every two months from prison-linked drug activity. The report linked him to drone deliveries of drugs and other illicit items, plus mobile phones found in his possession on six occasions.
Digweed was sentenced in June 2022 to 25 years for supplying drugs and transferred to HMP Garth near Leyland in Lancashire in July 2022. The report said he was involved in prison drug culture, wanted by organised crime gangs outside the prison, and worried about debts.
HMP Garth report findings
The report also said Digweed tested positive for cocaine in September 2023 and harmed himself that month by making superficial cuts to his chest. On 27 September, staff removed his prison laptop after they noticed he had damaged the screen, and he went without it for six months.
That detail sits alongside the report's wider picture of how drug activity moved inside the jail. It said Digweed was not only using a phone repeatedly, but also organising drone deliveries that brought drugs and other illicit items into HMP Garth.
13 April 2024 inside the cell
Digweed was last seen alive during a routine count of prisoners on the evening of 12 April 2024. His observation panel was covered during the early morning roll check on 13 April 2024 and was still covered at a welfare check at 09:07 BST.
At about 11:30 on 13 April 2024, an officer unlocked his cell but did not look inside. Shortly afterwards, he was found hanged. The report said he was later found to have injuries consistent with being slashed with a blade, and CCTV showed four prisoners enter his cell on 1 November 2023.
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman
The day after his death, officers received intelligence from prisoners that Digweed was wanted by organised crime gangs outside the prison and worried about debts. The report leaves one main question hanging over HMP Garth: how he was able to control or direct that level of prison drug activity from inside a cell.
