A prisoner serving a 16-year sentence for sexual offences did not receive healthcare equivalent to that expected in the community before dying from advanced pancreatic cancer at HMP Isle of Wight, a clinical review has found.
Stephen McDermott was sentenced to 16 years in prison for sexual offences on 4th February 2022 and was initially sent to HMP Lewes.
He was transferred to HMP Isle of Wight in April 2022, where he reported back and abdominal pain as well as concerns about his bowel movements.
The report states that Mr McDermott’s health deteriorated significantly between April 2022 and his death later that year.
The 76-year-old died at the prison on 25th October 2022.
A post-mortem examination concluded Mr McDermott died of pneumonia caused by metastatic carcinoma of the pancreas – pancreatic cancer which had spread to other parts of his body.
At an inquest held on 18th September 2025, the Coroner concluded Mr McDermott died from natural causes.
Condolences have been offered to Mr McDermott’s family and friends following the findings.
A clinical reviewer concluded that the care provided to Mr McDermott before his terminal diagnosis “was not equivalent to that which he could have expected to receive in the community”.
The reviewer also found that Mr McDermott displayed symptoms of possible serious disease in the months leading up to his death, including struggling to eat, abdominal pain and bowel issues.
According to the report, both nursing staff and prison wing staff raised concerns about his deteriorating condition.
However, the GP supporting Mr McDermott at the time did not arrange further investigations into the symptoms he was experiencing.
Name the GP?
Why..did the world a favour
He didn’t deserve treatment? Sexual offences against who?16 year sentence so it must of been bad??? Will the people he was accused of sexual offences against
ever get over what happened to them NO??
case closed
When you receive a sentence of 16 years that is equivalant to some life terms for murder then you have stepped outside of the norms of society, your crimes so heinous that you are no longer deserving of the same considerations as law abiding people. We fed him, kept him warm and he died as a result of a cancer and considering his age the outcome was broadly similar to that of someone in society.If you review anything in the cold light of day you can find fault, this was just a waste of everyones time and energy and probably money as well.
At his trial in February 2022, the court heard how McDermott abused three boys on a number of occasions between 1983 and 2005.
That is 22 years of torment for those boys!
He was charged with: Eight counts of indecent assault on a male.
Two counts of assault by penetration.
Two counts of sexual assault on a child under 13
One count of indecency with a child and
One count of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.
The “clinical reviewer” asserted that McDermott’s care was “not equivalent to
that which he could have expected to receive in the community”.
I would assert that his behaviour was not what any community should expect!
for once, I totally agree with you…
See – you can be on the right side occasionally!
Good Riddance rot in hell
Oh no, maybe if he wasn’t a criminal someone might care?
Not just a criminal, but a moral abomination – our ancestors had the moral courage to eradicate creatures like this wherever they found them, and we have chosen to let them live and prosper in our schools, hospitals, media, arts, and in our communities. Frankly, that makes us cowards.
I would say he had better treatment – out here in the real world we have no support from prison staff when the go does not take us seriously.
There seems to be a hint towards the end of this article that the illness could have followed a different path if action had been taken earlier. Before that hare is set running it is worth pointing out that pancreatic cancer is nearly always terminal. It is notoriously difficult to treat and even those who have initially successful surgery nearly always have a recurrence within a short space of time. So before we start beating people up about a lack of care, lets just keep some focus on reality. The reality is that people all over get pancreatic cancer and die – some of those will be in prison.
He may have been, and doubtless was, a repellent individual. But no one can be wholly defined by their crimes – well; maybe Hitler could…. but I don’t want to be trivial about this: he had one of the most likely terminal cancers, and should have received the best possible care however vile an offender he may have been. We don’t send people to prison to undergo torture – I don’t suppose the world is a lot worse off for his not being here anymore, but prisons are still supposed to offer appropriate care.
See, this is the voice of moral cowardace, it’s Christian religious sentimentality without the actual self awareness or moral commitment. No mate, prison is a punishment, not a hotel, a school or a playtime area for naugty boys. It should be HELL, otherwise it’s in no way a punishment is it? This is mute however, as this individual should have received the same treatment as a dog who bites people – one could argue that they deserve it a LOT more than the poor animals who haven’t been trained or looked after properly by thier owners. And no, this convict effectively gave up any human rights he deserved when he commited his evil acts.
Does not mean a thing. My husband was let down by the NHS, denied an urgent liver scan, was left waiting for much needed appointments that by the time he ended up in A and E it was too advanced despite an operation to open the liver bilirubin levels so no.being in the community means nothing . Let down is let down
Oh well, how sad, never mind ! S..t happens.
My thoughts with his victims not this pervert.