An independent reviewer has examined the care he received
HMP Leyhill(Image: Bristol Post)
Staff at a Gloucestershire prison have been cleared in a review of the care given to a notorious Bristol paedophile before his death.
An independent review of the clinical care given to Peter Power found the standard of care he received at HMP Leyhill was “equivalent to that which he would have received in the wider community”.
The review report into Power’s death has now been published, following his inquest last week, which concluded he died from natural causes.
The reviewer found communication between prison and hospital and healthcare staff was good in the days and weeks before his death.
Power died at Stanshawes Care Home in Yate on July 15, 2023, at the age of 83, while he was still a prisoner at HMP Leyhill.
He had been jailed for six years and four months back in January 2021, and transferred to Leyhill in April 2023 as his health declined.
The report revealed he had vascular dementia, heart disease and cardiomegaly, which contributed but did not cause his death – he died from traumatic brain injuries, and NHS England commissioned an independent clinical reviewer to review Power’s clinical care at HMP Leyhill.
In his working life, Power had worked as a fireman at GWR. At the age of 81, Power, from Oakland Road, St George in Bristol, was put on trial and convicted of sexually abusing a boy in Bristol decades earlier.
He was found guilty of six charges of indecency with a child, and denied wrongdoing even after he was convicted and sentenced.
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But such was the historic nature of the case back in 2021 that Judge Euan Ambrose had to take into account what would have been the maximum sentence at the time.
He jailed Power for six years and four months, telling the pensioner: “Your offending has caused (the complainant) to suffer severe psychological harm.
“His entire life has been profoundly affected by the abuse he suffered at your hands. He suffered complex post traumatic stress disorder.
He still says that he can find himself wishing he was at the end of his life as then it would all be over and there would be no more pain. The court acknowledges the dreadful harm to him,” he added.
A general view of the mirrored sign outside Bristol Crown Court, Small Street, Bristol.(Image: PA Archive/PA Images)
Mary Cowe, prosecuting, said there was evidence in the case that at the time Power said to the boy that, if he told his parents what happened, they would be angry.
Virginia Cornwall, defending via video link, told the court: “These are the only matters he’s ever faced. He is now 81. He has declining health.
“Should he survive his sentence there will be licence and notification provisions and it should be sufficient in this case to safeguard any concerns,” she added.
Power did not survive his sentence, and died two and a half years later.