A man convicted of the murder of a 14-year-old boy should not have been handcuffed in hospital while dying from cancer, according to an ombudsman report.
Brian Field, 87, died from gastric cancer at HMP Full Sutton in February last year. Field was jailed for life in 2001 after new DNA evidence linked him to the murder of 14-year-old Roy Tutill in 1968.
Roy was hitch-hiking from his school to his home in Brockham, Surrey, to save money from his bus fare so he could save up for a bicycle. The youngster was abducted, raped, and strangled and his body was found in a copse at Mickleham three days later.
Field was linked to the murder 30 years later when police stopped him for drink-driving and submitted his DNA results into a national police computer system.
After he was convicted, police investigated if he was involved in the murder of 15-year-old Mark Billington, who vanished in Yardley, Birmingham in September 1984 and was found dead in Meriden, near Coventry, two months later. Field was said to live near where Mark was last seen alive, but there was never enough evidence to charge him.
Field was also linked to the disappearance of David Spencer, 11, and Patrick Warren, 13. They vanished on Boxing Day in 1996 after playing near their homes in Solihull, close to where Field lived.
David Spencer (left) and Patrick Warren have not been seen since Boxing Day 1996
(Image: West Midlands Police)
In 2006 Field was identified as a prime suspect, but when questioned by police he denied involvement and the bodies of the boys were never found. Again, there was insufficient evidence to charge him.
He was handcuffed during a hospital visit before his death which was “not justified given his advanced age”, according to the report into his death by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.
It noted he suffered bruising as a result of the use of restraints. However, it found his medical care in prison was “appropriate, compassionate and responsive” and made no other recommendations.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said: “HMP Full Sutton prisoner Brian Field died of natural causes on 4 February 2024.
“The prison has implemented all of the Ombudsman’s recommendations, improving its processes for the use of restraints and how this is recorded.”