Kettering paedophile Timothy Ford died of Covid complications after recall to prison

A Kettering man who ran a global paedophile ring from his rundown bungalow died from complications after contracting Covid-19.

Timothy Ford was imprisoned for eight-and-a-half years for his part in a conspiracy to sexually exploit impoverished Filipino children to satisfy the rabid urges of paedophiles around the globe.

After serving his sentence he was released and then recalled to prison in July 2021. Prison officers found his multiple health conditions put him at high risk of Covid and he was moved to Peterborough City Hospital where eventually contracted the virus and died a month later.

The Prison Ombudsman conducted a fatal incident inquiry into his death and the findings have now been published.

Ombudsman Sue McAllister has made a series of recommendations to HMP Peterborough following her investigation.

Ford, 61, was convicted of 23 offences including paying for the sexual services of a child back in March 2013 following a wide-ranging investigation involving Northamptonshire Police, the National Crime Agency, and other worldwide crime-fighting oranisations.

Northampton Crown Court heard how Ford, of Burghley Street, Kettering, had paid adults in the Philippines to allow their children – aged between six and 15 – to be abused on camera. He had then sold the images to other paedophiles in the UK, US and Australia.

During his time on bail, he had continued to run the operation and had planned to buy land in the Philippines so he could escape there.

He had twice previously been jailed for sex offences against children when he was hit by a bus and left paralysed from the waist down.

After the case, police described him as a "voracious sex offender". Judge Rupert Mayo told Ford that he was "manipulative, obsessive and blinkered in your attitude towards prepubescent boys".

Ford was jailed for eight-and-a-half years with an extended six-and-a-half year extended licence. He served his sentence and was released in October 2020.

But on the evening of July 23, 2021, he was recalled to prison after breaching the terms of his release.

A nurse in HMP Peterborough’s healthcare wing noted that Ford had physical health conditions including type 1 diabetes, diabetic ulcers on both legs, chronic kidney disease, a previous kidney transplant and atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat). His lower body and legs were paralysed as a result of his spinal cord injury and he used a wheelchair.

Because of the care he needed, the prison could not meet his medical needs and he was transferred the following day to Peterborough City Hospital.

Although he was due to be discharged on July 27, this was postponed.

The fatal incident report states: “.. the prison had neither the facilities, nor appropriately trained staff to provide daily bowel continence care and the local social care team could not provide the service at that time. Mr Ford also needed daily intravenous medication, as well as specialist equipment to help with his care.”

Ford was tested every three days for Covid-19 and on August 13 he tested positive. He developed pneumonia and on August 24 was moved to end of life care.

There was a degree of confusion over communication with his family and a female relative was told she was not entitled to information about his condition as she was not his next of kin.

Ford died on August 27 and some members of his family were with him.

A post-mortem report concluded Ford’s death was caused by diffuse alveolar damage (an acute lung condition) arising from COVID-19.

The fatal incident report said that Ford’s care at HMP Peterborough was of a good standard, equivalent to that he could have expected to receive in the community.

He received his prescribed medications and healthcare staff acted promptly when it became clear they were unable to meet his other immediate health needs. The clinical reviewer identified a concern about information sharing.

The investigation found that information sharing was inconsistent while Mr Ford was in hospital. Between 30 July and 17 August, there was only one substantive contact between healthcare and hospital staff. The Head of Healthcare explained that as Mr Ford had moved wards several times, there had been difficulties in contacting clinical staff and some of them had been reluctant to disclose information. Many of the unsuccessful attempts at contact had not been recorded.

Ombudsman Sue McAllister said: “We consider that regular communication with hospital staff is important to inform discharge decisions and plans and recommend that the Head of Healthcare should ensure that there is an effective process for sharing information with hospitals when prisoners are admitted as inpatients.

“Problems with maintaining contact should be consistently recorded.”

The ombudsman also expressed concern that it was over a month before his next of kin was informed that he was unwell, when end of life care had already started.

She added: “We are also concerned that he was not given the opportunity for his family to be informed that he had tested positive for COVID-19. This was particularly pertinent given his high risk of complications from contracting the virus.

"We consider that there was undue delay in contacting Mr Ford’s next of kin and family liaison officers should be made aware that, subject to the prisoner’s agreement, it is open to them to communicate with more than one family member.”

She recommended that prisons should comply with regulations surrounding contact with families of ill prisoners.