Barnsley paedophile jailed at Sheffield Crown Court dies in Doncaster Prison

A South Yorkshire sex offender, jailed at Sheffield Crown Court, has died in jail, officials have confirmed.

George Shaw was jailed in 2021 after he was convicted of sexually abusing a young girl more than 50 years ago.

But an official report has now confirmed that he died in Doncaster Prison after his health deteriorated after being sent to jail.

Shaw, of Hoyland, Barnsley, who was sent to prison at the age of 89, evaded justice for years but his past caught up with him when he was reported for attacks and admitted a series of offences which took place between 1965 and 1975. He was jailed for six years and two months for two counts of indecent assault on a girl under the age of 14.

He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

However, a report by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has now revealed he died in jail in November 2022.

Mr George Shaw, who was 89 years old, died of pneumonia on November 24, 2022, at HMP/YOI Doncaster.

"The clinical reviewer concluded that the care Mr Shaw received at Doncaster was of a good standard and therefore equivalent to that which he could have expected to receive in the community. She has made recommendations about completing secondary health screens in accordance with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance and recording prisoners’ preferred place of death," the report states.

"We did not find any non-clinical issues of concern."

The report revealed Mr Shaw had been diagnosed with prostate cancer shortly after his admission to prison, later suffering kidney failure and a form of dementia.

It added Mr Shaw’s family informed the family liaison office that they wanted Mr Shaw to remain in prison to receive end of life care until his eventual death. However, there is no evidence in his medical records to indicate that healthcare staff asked Mr Shaw if prison was his preferred place to be.

Mr Shaw was the nineteenth prisoner to die at Doncaster Prison since November 2019, said the report.

Of the previous deaths, thirteen were from natural causes, four were self-inflicted and one was drug related.

There are no similarities between Mr Shaw’s death and the previous deaths at the prison, it added.