A child rapist who was sentenced to 15 years in prison after repeatedly abusing a young girl has died in jail after missing hospital appointments due to staff shortages.
George Alexander Rose was found guilty in May 2021 of 22 counts of indecent assault and six counts of rape. The crimes traced back to the 1980s and upon sentencing, Rose was informed that he would likely spend his remaining years behind bars.
The 75-year-old, who perpetrated some of his crimes in Blackpool and Oldham, was sent to Wymott Prison in Lancashire. In May 2023, Rose was diagnosed with an abdominal aortic aneurysm.
His initial hospital appointment was cancelled and rescheduled, but due to staffing issues at Wymott, he was unable to attend. Rose was subsequently taken for a rescheduled appointment in August, only to find out upon arrival that the clinic had been cancelled due to doctor strikes, and the prison had not been informed.
When Rose, formerly of Mill Road, Barnstaple, Devon, eventually met with a vascular surgeon, six months post-diagnosis, he was warned that his aneurysm could rupture at any moment.
An inquest held on April 30, 2025, concluded that Rose died of natural causes.
The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman launched an investigation, following standard procedure for any death in custody, with a clinical reviewer determining that had Rose been examined by the vascular team in June 2023 – when no prison officers were available to escort him to hospital – it might have led to proper diagnosis and swifter treatment.
Following Rose’s death, prison authorities have undertaken an urgent review of staffing levels for escort duties to establish whether current resources adequately serve Wymott’s prison population.
The ombudsman also disclosed that healthcare personnel at Wymott had neglected to refer Rose for age-appropriate screening programmes when he arrived at the facility in May 2021.
This oversight would have encompassed the abdominal aortic aneurysm screening for which he was eventually diagnosed two years afterwards.
The ombudsman highlighted in a report, released this month: “On June 18, a nurse carried out the first and second health screens. There is no record that he asked Mr Rose if he had been involved in NHS checks and screening programmes relevant to his age as he should have done.
“As a result, the nurse did not check whether Mr Rose had engaged in the NHS abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screening programme, so no referral was made.”
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