A convicted paedophile who carried out decades of sexual abuse against children was found dead in his cell at HMP The Verne, an inquest has heard.
Geoffrey Talbot Morris was serving an 18-year and ten-month prison sentence when he died at the Dorset jail on the Isle of Portland on 10 June 2024. He was 83 years old.
Morris was jailed in 2019 after admitting 28 offences involving the sexual abuse of children, committed over a period of more than 30 years. The crimes took place both on the Isle of Wight and on the mainland and involved boys and girls, some of whom were as young as eight or nine years old.
Appearing via video link at the Isle of Wight Crown Court in January 2019, Morris pleaded guilty to charges including indecent assault and serious sexual offences against children. The court heard disturbing details of how he engaged in sexual acts with young girls and forced a boy of a similar age to perform sexual acts either on him or in front of him. Recorder Anna Midgley ordered the forfeiture and destruction of electronic devices used by Morris, including a laptop and digital cameras. He was sentenced to 18 years and ten months in prison, with an additional year on extended licence.
After initially being held at HMP Isle of Wight, Morris was transferred in 2021 to HMP The Verne, a category C prison that primarily houses men convicted of sexual offences or those deemed vulnerable and in need of additional supervision. The Verne has previously held high-profile offenders, including disgraced pop star Gary Glitter, reflecting its role in managing prisoners who require separation from the general population.
The prison also holds a growing number of elderly and infirm inmates. Morris was accommodated on a specialist unit for prisoners with mobility issues and social care needs. He suffered from multiple long-term health conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease and severely restricted mobility.
An investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) examined the circumstances of Morris’s death. The inquest heard that two prison officers carried out a routine roll check at around 7.42am on the morning he died. One officer later stated that he believed Morris had moved his foot in response to a greeting, leading staff to assume he was alive.
However, at around 8.20am, a support care worker found Morris unresponsive and unable to be woken. Staff quickly realised he had died, and a prison GP attended shortly after 9am to formally pronounce death.
A post-mortem examination concluded that Morris died from ischaemic strokes caused by severe atherosclerosis, and his death was ruled to be from natural causes. The PPO report said it was unlikely Morris had moved during the earlier check, noting that rigor mortis was already present when he was discovered less than 40 minutes later.
One of the officers involved in the morning check was only on his second day in the role. More broadly, the prison is experiencing a loss of experienced staff as long-serving officers retire, with many being replaced by newer recruits with limited experience. While the ombudsman did not describe this as a systemic failure, the report stressed the importance of thorough welfare checks, particularly in prisons housing elderly and vulnerable prisoners.
The PPO emphasised that officers should clearly see a prisoner’s face and be confident they have confirmed signs of life during routine checks, especially in establishments like The Verne, where the population includes a high proportion of elderly, infirm and high-risk inmates.
