Rapist dies at Bridgend's Parc Prison

A rapist has died while serving a 12-year jail term at Bridgend's Parc prison.

John Hyde, 79, was sentenced in 2019 after being found guilty of historic sex offences.

It means 13 Parc inmates have died since late February.

Unlike some of the other cases, Hyde's death is not thought to be linked to a drug overdose or self-harm.

It's understood Hyde, who died in the jail on July 26, was receiving palliative care and a do-not-resuscitate order was in place.

A spokeswoman for G4S — the private security giant which runs the jail — said: "As with all deaths in custody, this will be investigated by the prisons and probation ombudsman, and the cause of death is for the coroner to determine."

Hyde, who lived in Ethel Street in Canton, Cardiff, was jailed in January 2019 for 12 years and four months after being convicted of sexual abuse which took place in the 1980s and 1990s.

He was found guilty of two counts of rape and he pleaded guilty to two attempts at perverting the course of justice.

In June, G4S replaced the director of Parc by mutual agreement following disorder at the jail and a string of inmate fatalities.

Last month, a Ministry of Justice report revealed self-harm incidents at the jail had more than doubled to a record 2,330 incidents for the year ending March 2024 compared to 1,088 in the previous year.