Stephen Bingley

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Independent investigation into
the death of Mr Stephen Bingley,
a prisoner at HMP Rye Hill,
on 11 July 2025
A report by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman
Third Floor, 10 South Colonnade Email: mail@ppo.gov.uk T l 020 7633 4100
Canary Wharf, London E14 4PU Web: www.ppo.gov.uk
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OFFICIAL - FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
© Crown copyright, 2026
This report is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0. To view this licence,
visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3
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1. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman aims to make a significant contribution to
safer, fairer custody and community supervision. One of the most important ways in
which we work towards that aim is by carrying out independent investigations into
deaths, due to any cause, of prisoners, young people in detention, residents of
approved premises and detainees in immigration centres.
2. If my office is to best assist His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) in
ensuring the standard of care received by those within service remit is appropriate,
our recommendations should be focused, evidenced and viable. This is especially
the case if there is evidence of systemic failure.
3. In December 2016, Mr Stephen Bingley was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment
for sexual offences. He died in hospital from a perforated bowel on 11 July 2025,
while a prisoner at HMP Rye Hill. He was 66 years old. We offer our condolences to
Mr Bingley’s family and friends.
4. The Ombudsman’s office wrote to Mr Bingley’s son to explain the investigation and
to ask if he had any matters he wanted us to consider. He did not respond to our
letter.
5. NHS England commissioned an independent clinical reviewer, to review Mr
Bingley’s clinical care at HMP Rye Hill. The clinical reviewer’s report is attached as
Annex 1.
6. The clinical reviewer concluded that the clinical care Mr Bingley received at Rye Hill
was of a good standard and was equivalent to that which he could have expected to
receive in the community. However, there had been a delay in actioning a referral
for a stool test for Mr Bingley. The prison’s healthcare provider, Practice Plus
Group, identified during their post-incident review that there was a high volume of
unactioned referrals with the administration team. Practice Plus Group has since
put measures in place to address this and therefore we make no recommendation.
7. The PPO investigator investigated the non-clinical issues relating to Mr Bingley’s
care.
8. We did not find any non-clinical issues of concern. We make no recommendations.
9. We shared our initial report with HMPPS and the prison’s healthcare provider,
Practice Plus Group. They found no factual inaccuracies.
Adrian Usher December 2025
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman
Inquest
At the inquest, held on 28 January 2026, the Coroner concluded that Mr Bingley died from
natural causes.
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman 1
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Third Floor, 10 South Colonnade Email: mail@ppo.gov.uk T l 020 7633 4100
Canary Wharf, London E14 4PU Web: www.ppo.gov.uk
OFFICIAL - FOR PUBLIC RELEASE