A prison inmate who faced living in a homeless shelter instead of returning to his wife of 56 years was “at breaking point” before taking his own life.
Bill Bissett, who was serving a six and-a-half year sentence at HMP Wymott near Leyland, was due to be released on licence on October 13 in 2023. However, just weeks before his release date, the 88-year-old was told that he would be unable to go back to his family home in Lytham.
Bill, who had been convicted of sexually abusing five young boys, had been informed by his Prison Offender Manager Jonathan Johnson less than four months before his release that an exclusion zone had been set up to prevent him from bumping into any of his victims. The exclusion zone included Lytham as well as Blackpool.
As Bill was elderly and had serious health conditions including failing eyesight, lack of hearing, a congenital hip disease and high blood pressure, he and his family were concerned that he would not cope living alone. Bill was eventually informed – less than 24 hours before his release – that he would be put up in a Travelodge in either Preston or Chorley.
On the morning he was due to be released from Wymott Prison Bill was found hanging in his cell. Letters he left for his wife Monica and daughter Eileen revealed he “couldn’t bear” the thought of living miles away from his family.
An inquest, which started yesterday (Monday January 12) at Preston’s County Hall, heard that after Bill had been informed of the exclusion zone, in June 2023, his daughter Eileen contacted the Probation Service which was responsible for managing any post-release licence conditions.
Eileen said in a statement that her dad was “stunned” by the lack of support he received from the Probation Service. “We had always assumed that once he had served his sentence he would return home to mum,” she said.
Bill said he’d rather stay in his tiny prison cell than be released and unable to live with his wife
(Image: HMIP)
“On Friday June 23 dad was informed by his Prison Offender Manager that he would be subject to an exclusion zone. He was rushed for a response by the following Monday and I suspect that this should have been communicated months earlier and that someone had dropped the ball.”
Eileen then began to contact the Probation Service herself but it was often days – and sometimes weeks – before she received a response. She said that in August 2023 she was told that her dad’s probation officer Samantha al-Sharifi had met with Bill in the March, which he said was not true, but when Eileen challenged this she was then informed a meeting would be set up.
“I adduced from the lack of response that was because they had established no such meeting had taken place,” Eileen said in her statement. “I was in shock. Three weeks before his release and still he hadn’t been visited by his probation officer. He was utterly fed up and angry about being in limbo.”
The inquest heard that it was suggested to Bill that he could stay with his sister who lived 200 miles away in Glasgow. He was advised that if he didn’t comply with the terms of his licence he would be “sent back to prison”. “He said he’d rather stay in prison than do what they were suggesting,” his daughter said.
In her statement, Bill’s daughter Eileen described her dad as being “at the end of his tether”, and said he was “scared” at not knowing where he would live after he was released. Eileen said that on October 12, the day before he was released, Bill had a meeting with Fylde Council and was told he would have to meet with them again the following day.
“He still had no idea where he was going to live, the council said it could be Preston or Chorley,” Eileen added. “They said it was his responsibility to find somewhere permanent. I think this is when dad understood he would be homeless after his release. He was in no position to find permanent accommodation on his own in an area he didn’t know.”
After Bill was found dead in his cell, on the day of his release, letters addressed to his wife Monica and daughter Eileen were discovered. In his letter to Eileen he wrote of being “completely ignored by the Probation Service” and described the justice system as being “out of touch”.
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