One of Britain’s worst paedophiles Robin Hollyson, 31, was found in Bristol Prison on Friday and died two days later in hospital. He is believed to have killed himself after being found hanged in his cell. The IT expert was serving 24 years for raping babies and young children and sharing videos of the sick acts online.
Hollyson, who changed his name to James King after his conviction last year, was part of a seven strong paedophile ring that target youngsters under five and streamed their abuse on the Internet.
He had claimed to repeatedly rape a baby from the age of three months and filmed himself doing so.
He was a convicted sex offender at the time.
Sentencing the gang in September last year, Judge Julian Lambert described his and the gang’s offences as “evil beyond rational understanding” and “contrary to all nature and humanity”.
He said:
“In the worst nightmare, from the very deepest recesses of the mind, at the darkest hour of the night, few can have imagined the terrifying depravity which you men admit. “You men indulged yourself in some of the most depraved and grossly deviant behaviour imaginable.”
Hollyson, from Bedfordshire, was placed on suicide watch when he was first jailed but is understood to have been taken off it at some point before his death. An independent investigation has been launched and the coroner will be informed.
A Prison Service spokeswoman said: “HMP Bristol prisoner James King was found unresponsive in his cell on Friday.
“Prison staff attempted CPR and paramedics attended, but he died in hospital on Sunday. “As with all deaths in custody, the independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will conduct an investigation.”
The paedophile ring, aged between 31 and 51, were convicted of 29 child sex abuse offences, including the multiple rape of an 11-month-old baby.
John Denham, 50, from Wiltshire, was jailed for eight years; Matthew Stansfield, 35, from Hampshire for 10; Adam Toms, 33, from Somerset, for 12; Christopher Knight, 35, from Manchester, for 18; David Harsley, 51, from Yorkshire, for two; and Matthew Lisk, 33, from Sussex for four.
All of the men pleaded guilty to all of the charges – except Denham who was found guilty at trial of one charge of conspiracy to sexually assault a child, and Stansfield of two charges of conspiracy to rape.
