An 88-year-old man, convicted of sexually abusing boys, took his life the day he was released from HMP Wymott prison.
Bissett was 88 years old when he was jailed for six and a half years back in 2020. The court found him guilty of abusing five boys, though he always maintained his innocence. The court denied his appeal.
Prison staff liked Bissett and found him polite. People respected him. He couldn’t return home because his home had an exclusion zone, stopping him from seeing his victims.
Bissett needed to find emergency housing and had to talk to housing officers. The night before his release, he called his wife and asked her to bring clothes.
He was found hanging in his cell at 5:10 AM. He left a letter for his wife and daughter. In it, he expressed feeling lost and sad and wrote that he missed his wife.
In June 2023, Bissett learned he could not go home and considered other places to live, ultimately disliking all options. His daughter tried to appeal the exclusion zone, but the prison decided to keep it.
Bissett’s brother died in September 2023, and he watched the funeral from prison. On October 5th, he expressed sadness about the zone and learned he must see housing officers. A nurse said he seemed upset but not dangerous.
The prison kept the exclusion zone in place, and Bissett gave no signs that he might hurt himself. An officer found him dead the next day and he was pronounced dead at 5:40 AM.
The PPO report stated staff couldn’t foresee his suicide, as he gave them no indication he would do it. His last call with his wife seemed normal, and staff cared for him with compassion.
The ombudsman made no recommendations, but the inquest found planning failures. This failure caused issues with finding him accommodation before October 5th and could have contributed to his death.