And the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) also found a prison officer “sniggered” on being told Shafaq Khan needed care and did nothing to seek help. The 52-year-old, who turned out to be critically ill, was only given medical aid more than three hours later. Former shopkeeper Khan died in hospital more than three months later from complications linked to diabetes after being found unresponsive in his cell on December 19 2022.
The PPO probe concluded there were failings in the management of Khan's illness while incarcerated. The Ministry of Justice said the prison officer had received training and advice and was now back at work. Khan was serving an eight-year term for manslaughter after carbon monoxide fumes from a petrol generator he was using in his Rochdale shop killed a tenant in the flat above.
The PPO investigation found Khan had been ill since contracting flu and his blood-sugar levels had been raised. At 8.10am on December 19 another prisoner approached a guard, referred to as Officer A, and told him he "needed to call healthcare" as Khan had been asleep for 22 hours.
According to PPO investigator Adrian Usher, Officer A "sniggered" and said "Mr Khan was probably having a laugh". The officer failed to contact the prison's healthcare team or check on the critically ill inmate. It was not until 11.
14am that another guard found Khan unresponsive. He underwent CPR but remained critically unwell in hospital. Doctors found he had diabetic ketoacidosis, a life-threa.
