Stocken Prison

Justice · Prison or young offender institution

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First report 8 Oct 2025•Latest report 8 Oct 2025

Reports, concerns and published responses

Reports over time

Reports naming this recipient by issue year.

* 2026 is projected from reports observed to 7 Sep 2026.

Reports
1

Naming this recipient

Published responses
0%

Found for named reports

Concerns addressed
0

Across all linked responses

Stated actions
0

Described in responses

Concerns and recipient responses

Statements from Stocken Prison linked to the concerns in each report. Select any concern, action or position to view the source wording.

  1. Rutland and North Leicestershire

    AI-generated summary

    Richard Charles HUNT · Prevention of Future Deaths report

    This summary was generated using AI from the published report. Please read the original report for the complete account.

    Report summary

    Richard Charles HUNT was a serving prisoner at HMP Stocken who set fire to his cell on 11 July 2025, was taken to hospital, and died later that day from smoke inhalation. The report raises concerns that the aspirating fire detection system’s buzzer failed to sound because it had been deliberately disabled or tampered with, and that similar issues were found across the prison estate without central oversight of faults.

    Read the report on judiciary.uk

    Source evidence

    How this individual concern was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to Stocken Prison; that does not assign responsibility.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Failure to keep aspirating fire detection system fault buzzers operational

    Wider context from the report

    “On both occasions prior to setting fire to his cell, ████████ it is designed to trigger an alarm on a control panel which is housed in the Wing Office situated on each wing. The triggering of that alarm should not only display a light but also sound a buzzer to alert staff of a fault. On the 19th March when Mr Hunt set fire to his cell on K Wing and on 11th July when he set fire to his cell on I Wing this buzzer did not sound. On 19th March 2025, Mr Hunt himself raised the alarm by sounding his cell bell and was discovered. He required CPR and was hospitalised for 3 days. The aspirating fire alarm system did not sound an alarm in the K Wing office. On 11th July the detection of Mr Hunt having set fire to his cell was fortuitous as an OSG was conducting an ACCT check on another prisoner in a nearby cell and smelt smoke. The alarm indication of a fault had been triggered 2 hours before this discovery and Mr Hunt’s cell had been smouldering for around this period of time undetected. Again, no buzzer was sounded. Following the fire on the 19th March 2025, investigation revealed that the aspirating fire detection system buzzer with the Wing Office had been ‘disabled’ and it was believed to have been deliberately silenced for 12 months prior to the incident. Following the fire and Mr Hunt’s death on the 11th July 2025, the aspirating fire detection system was inspected and reviewed across the HMP Stocken Estate by ADT alarms, who are contracted to maintain the system. That inspection revealed that the reason the alarm on I wing, which was triggered but did not sound the buzzer, was because the control panel in the Wing Office (and in which the buzzer was housed) had been deliberately tampered with, by the insertion of a rubber glove between the connectors thereby disabling the buzzer. Further inspection of the aspirating fire detection system panels across the HMP Stocken Estate found for example the control panel on L Wing had been vandalised ████████ and that control panel units in other Wings including segregation had been deliberately forced open to gain access. I further understand that the aspirating fire detection system panels on the Wings do not link with the main Control Room, meaning there is no central oversight of faults (whether deliberate coverd or indicating a fire) for action to be immediately taken. Whilst HMP Stocken may have a system of maintenance of the aspirating fire detection system within the prison, that maintenance system is futile if staff are going to deliberately tamper with that system to disable the buzzer which is designed to alert them as to risk. This is not an isolated occurrence and is systemic across the HMP Stocken Estate. ”
    Open source report

    Source evidence

    How this individual concern was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to Stocken Prison; that does not assign responsibility.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Failure to protect aspirating fire detection system control panels from deliberate tampering

    Wider context from the report

    “On both occasions prior to setting fire to his cell, ████████ it is designed to trigger an alarm on a control panel which is housed in the Wing Office situated on each wing. The triggering of that alarm should not only display a light but also sound a buzzer to alert staff of a fault. On the 19th March when Mr Hunt set fire to his cell on K Wing and on 11th July when he set fire to his cell on I Wing this buzzer did not sound. On 19th March 2025, Mr Hunt himself raised the alarm by sounding his cell bell and was discovered. He required CPR and was hospitalised for 3 days. The aspirating fire alarm system did not sound an alarm in the K Wing office. On 11th July the detection of Mr Hunt having set fire to his cell was fortuitous as an OSG was conducting an ACCT check on another prisoner in a nearby cell and smelt smoke. The alarm indication of a fault had been triggered 2 hours before this discovery and Mr Hunt’s cell had been smouldering for around this period of time undetected. Again, no buzzer was sounded. Following the fire on the 19th March 2025, investigation revealed that the aspirating fire detection system buzzer with the Wing Office had been ‘disabled’ and it was believed to have been deliberately silenced for 12 months prior to the incident. Following the fire and Mr Hunt’s death on the 11th July 2025, the aspirating fire detection system was inspected and reviewed across the HMP Stocken Estate by ADT alarms, who are contracted to maintain the system. That inspection revealed that the reason the alarm on I wing, which was triggered but did not sound the buzzer, was because the control panel in the Wing Office (and in which the buzzer was housed) had been deliberately tampered with, by the insertion of a rubber glove between the connectors thereby disabling the buzzer. Further inspection of the aspirating fire detection system panels across the HMP Stocken Estate found for example the control panel on L Wing had been vandalised ████████ and that control panel units in other Wings including segregation had been deliberately forced open to gain access. I further understand that the aspirating fire detection system panels on the Wings do not link with the main Control Room, meaning there is no central oversight of faults (whether deliberate coverd or indicating a fire) for action to be immediately taken. Whilst HMP Stocken may have a system of maintenance of the aspirating fire detection system within the prison, that maintenance system is futile if staff are going to deliberately tamper with that system to disable the buzzer which is designed to alert them as to risk. This is not an isolated occurrence and is systemic across the HMP Stocken Estate. ”
    Open source report

    Source evidence

    How this individual concern was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to Stocken Prison; that does not assign responsibility.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Lack of central oversight of aspirating fire detection system faults

    Wider context from the report

    “On both occasions prior to setting fire to his cell, ████████ it is designed to trigger an alarm on a control panel which is housed in the Wing Office situated on each wing. The triggering of that alarm should not only display a light but also sound a buzzer to alert staff of a fault. On the 19th March when Mr Hunt set fire to his cell on K Wing and on 11th July when he set fire to his cell on I Wing this buzzer did not sound. On 19th March 2025, Mr Hunt himself raised the alarm by sounding his cell bell and was discovered. He required CPR and was hospitalised for 3 days. The aspirating fire alarm system did not sound an alarm in the K Wing office. On 11th July the detection of Mr Hunt having set fire to his cell was fortuitous as an OSG was conducting an ACCT check on another prisoner in a nearby cell and smelt smoke. The alarm indication of a fault had been triggered 2 hours before this discovery and Mr Hunt’s cell had been smouldering for around this period of time undetected. Again, no buzzer was sounded. Following the fire on the 19th March 2025, investigation revealed that the aspirating fire detection system buzzer with the Wing Office had been ‘disabled’ and it was believed to have been deliberately silenced for 12 months prior to the incident. Following the fire and Mr Hunt’s death on the 11th July 2025, the aspirating fire detection system was inspected and reviewed across the HMP Stocken Estate by ADT alarms, who are contracted to maintain the system. That inspection revealed that the reason the alarm on I wing, which was triggered but did not sound the buzzer, was because the control panel in the Wing Office (and in which the buzzer was housed) had been deliberately tampered with, by the insertion of a rubber glove between the connectors thereby disabling the buzzer. Further inspection of the aspirating fire detection system panels across the HMP Stocken Estate found for example the control panel on L Wing had been vandalised ████████ and that control panel units in other Wings including segregation had been deliberately forced open to gain access. I further understand that the aspirating fire detection system panels on the Wings do not link with the main Control Room, meaning there is no central oversight of faults (whether deliberate coverd or indicating a fire) for action to be immediately taken. Whilst HMP Stocken may have a system of maintenance of the aspirating fire detection system within the prison, that maintenance system is futile if staff are going to deliberately tamper with that system to disable the buzzer which is designed to alert them as to risk. This is not an isolated occurrence and is systemic across the HMP Stocken Estate. ”
    Open source report
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Information checked against published PFD reports and official responses · Data reviewed 7 Sep 2026 · About data quality and limitations

Data last updated 7 September 2026