It was alleged that the man was allowed to interact with children and women and move freely around an open hospital ward without adequate security or safeguarding measures in place.
Deputies were alerted to the claims when a member of the public wrote to them earlier this week seeking answers to a range of concerns which were reportedly first raised by staff at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital.
Following discussions with prison officials, Home Affairs president Marc Leadbeater circulated a statement yesterday in an effort to rebut fears that other hospital patients and visitors had been left at risk, although it did not specifically refute the claim that the man interacted with children.
‘The prisoner was receiving specialist medical treatment that could not be given in the prison environment and I am reassured that the safeguards put in place by the Prison Service in the hospital were appropriate to manage any potential risk,’ said Deputy Leadbeater.
‘These included that the individual was accommodated in a single room, to minimise any interaction with the public, and needed assistance to move around.
‘We have not been made aware of any inappropriate interactions or incidents and the management of the prisoner in hospital is believed to have been successful.’
The prisoner, who was in his early 80s, has since died in hospital of natural causes. He was serving a lengthy jail sentence for raping and indecently assaulting numerous females over a 45-year period. One of his victims was just six years old. The sentencing judge said the man would continue to pose a risk to children and women, although dementia and other diseases were known to have worsened his physical and mental condition considerably in recent years.
The member of the public who wrote to deputies asked for an independent review of how the prisoner’s hospital stay was managed.
All deaths in custody are reviewed by the independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, and Deputy Leadbeater said that in this case the concerns raised about the man’s hospital stay would form part of the review.
The ombudsman was also called in last week to review the circumstances of an unrelated case in which a man died in prison while being held on remand.
After receiving the concerns about the case of the prisoner who had been in hospital, Deputy Leadbeater initially replied the same day expressing confidence in the security procedures put in place by the prison, before providing more details yesterday afternoon.
‘The Home Affairs Committee acknowledges the importance of the management and supervision of individuals who have committed sexual offences, and in particular the real public concern when those offences have been committed against children,’ he said.
‘Public protection would have been the prime focus in managing the circumstances of this hospital stay and would have been informed by a detailed risk assessment undertaken by key professionals in the prison and probation service and medical professionals who would have been appropriately aware of the prisoner’s offending history and ongoing medical limitations and requirements.’
Home Affairs did not specifically answer a question from the Guernsey Press about whether any policies or procedures were not applied in the way they should have been while the man was in hospital.