Murderer Nicholas Rose died at HMP Guys Marsh after taking Spice

Nicholas Tom Rose was found dead in bed in his cell in HMP Guys Marsh, near Shaftesbury on May 19, 2019.

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He had been sentenced to imprisonment for life in 2005 for the murder of 16-year-old Charlotte Pinkney in Devon.

Nicholas Tom Rose

It has been reported that Charlotte vanished in the early hours of February 28, 2004. She had been to a party and left in a car. She was reported missing on March 4 and six days later a murder investigation was launched when her handbag was found in undergrowth near Ilfracombe.

After almost a month of intensive searches, police arrested Mr Rose. In February 2005 he went on trial at Exeter Crown Court.

Charlotte's body was never found and Mr Rose has always maintained his innocence.

A report by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman said Mr Rose was transferred to HMP Guys Marsh in 2017 and was considered to be a 'role model' in prison.

It states that Mr Rose had a known history of substance misuse in prison from October 2016, but was thought to have been abstinent for over a year before he died.

It was revealed that Mr Rose told his offender supervisor (probation officer in prison) that he had been very low at the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018 because he had learned that Inside Justice (a charity that investigates possible miscarriages of justice) were not going to pursue an appeal against his conviction. He said he had resorted to using drugs to cope.

In February 2018, Mr Rose set up a project (‘Rock Bottom’) to offer advice and support to other prisoners who used psychoactive substances (PS). He said he was no longer using drugs and wanted to help others in the prison to be abstinent.

On May 19, 2019, a prison officer was doing a routine roll call of the Jubilee Unit at around 12.15pm when he discovered Mr Rose dead in his cell.

HMP Guys Marsh in Shaftesbury. Picture: Google maps

The prison incident log and records from the ambulance service showed that the emergency call was received at 12.17pm and an ambulance was dispatched at 12.20pm, arriving at Guys Marsh six minutes later.

The report said that Mr Rose was the sixth prisoner to die at HMP Guys Marsh in the two-year period since May 2017. Of the previous deaths, one was from natural causes, three were PS related and one was a self-inflicted death in which PS played a part. There has been one death since Mr Rose’s (in July 2020) also due to PS.

It added: "Psychoactive substances (formerly known as ‘new psychoactive substances’ or ‘legal highs’) are a serious problem across the prison estate. They are difficult to detect and can affect people in a number of ways including increasing heart rate, raising blood pressure, reducing blood supply to the heart and vomiting.

"Mr Rose had a history of substance misuse in prison but appeared to have been abstinent for over a year before he died. He was regarded as a role model by staff and prisoners and supported other prisoners with substance misuse issues.

"His death was a great shock to all at Guys Marsh and is another sad example of the dangers of psychoactive substances."

A pathologist concluded Mr Rose died from airway obstruction due to aspiration of vomit as a result of PS intoxication.

A four-day inquest hearing at Dorset Coroner's Court at Bournemouth Town Hall took place from March 21 to March 24 this year.

Assistant coroner for Dorset, Brendan Allen, stated that prior to his death Mr Rose ingested spice and concluded that he died by misadventure.