Man who battered Burnley grandad to death with iron bar takes his own life in Leyland prison

Gavin Cox was jailed for 16 years after the murder of 74-year-old Bryan ‘Joe’ Platt, who disturbed a break-in at Calder Marketing, in Stacksteads, Rossendale, in February 2001.

Cox battered Joe with an iron bar and left him with 36 separate injuries to his head and neck. Cox then stole his credit cards, as he lay dying, and his car, and went on a spending spree.

Cox himself died on October 14, 2023, after he was found hanging in his cell at HMP Wymott the previous day. He was 47 years old. A Prisons and Probabtion Ombudsman investigation took place into the circumstances of his death, and the report was released on November 1.

Prison Inspectorate slams this neighbouring prison that has drones flying drugs in

Background

Gavin Cox was imprisoned in 2001 and had a long history of substance misuse. On two occasions, in 2020 and 2022, he was moved to open conditions but was then returned to closed conditions because of his drug use. He arrived at HMP Wymott on December 21, 2022.

The report states that he admitted illicit drug use to both a substance misuse nurse and a psychologist but there was no formal process for the sharing of information about illicit drug use between healthcare staff and prison staff.

On October 12, Cox was assaulted by another prisoner, which the report stated was “probably linked to drug debt”. It continues: “However, he gave no indication to staff or other prisoners that he was worried about his safety or at risk of harming himself.”

After prisoners were unlocked on the morning of October 13, two members of staff and a prisoner spoke to Cox. At 8.22am, an officer looked into his cell and saw him hanging. She called for assistance, and staff started CPR. At 8.34am, staff asked the control room to call an ambulance. Ambulance paramedics arrived and took Cox to hospital but he died at 1.44pm the next day.

Letter to the Governor

Cox left a letter addressed to the Governor, which said that he was frustrated that he had not been able to overcome his addictions and that drugs were available on the wing. For more on the letter, click here.

Findings

The PPO found that Cox gave no indication to staff or his peers that he was at risk of suicide or selfharm and they are satisfied that staff could not have foreseen his actions.

The ombudsman said that the clinical reviewer concluded that the care Cox received at Wymott was of “a good standard and equivalent to that which he could have expected to receive in the community.” He added: “Although Mr Cox told healthcare staff that he was using illicit drugs, they did not pass this information on to prison staff. Had wing staff been aware, they could have provided additional support and monitoring.

The ombudsman said that a 12-minute delay in calling an ambulance was because a prison officer did not use an emergency code as she should have done, but CPR was started promptly, and the clinical reviewer was satisfied with how it was delivered. The report states: “We cannot say whether the delay in calling the ambulance affected the outcome.”

A recommendation has been made that the prison’s Head of Healthcare should agree a pathway of information sharing with prison staff when prisoners disclose substance use.

Suicide

Cox was the third prisoner at Wymott to take his own life since October 2020. There was another self-inflicted death the day before Mr Cox died but the two men were in different parts of the prison and were unknown to each other.