The death of a prolific burglar after his release from jail has led to Portland Prison offering an 'overdose reversal' drug to inmates when they are set free, an inquest has been told.
Nathan Hibberd, 48, who was once featured in a national Top 10 of Britain's 'super criminals', died of a heroin overdose on September 10 last year - the day after he was released from HMP Portland.
Following his death at a friend's flat in Gloucester, an investigation was carried out by the Prison and Probation Ombudsman, who looks into all deaths of convicts within fourteen days of release.
The Ombudsman's report, issued earlier this month, said: “Mr Hibberd was given good substance misuse advice whilst in prison in preparation for his resettlement, but he was not offered a Naloxone kit.
"Naloxone is a drug that can reverse the effect of an opioid overdose. Had he been issued with this kit, it might have prevented his overdose.
“In a bid to increase risk management for individuals with substance misuse issues HMP Portland has now ensured that all prisoners being released are offered the Naloxone kit, even if the individual has gone through a drugs course in prison and has done well and has come off drugs, they will be given the kit as a safety measure.”
The inquest at Gloucester Coroner’s Court was told that Mr Hibberd was released from prison on Sept 9 and made his way to a friend’s house in Matson, Gloucester.
He had obtained some Class A drugs en-route and arrived at the address just before midnight. He shared the heroin and cocaine, which had cost him £40, with the other two occupants at the house.
They all injected and consumed the drugs while drinking alcohol, with Mr Hibberd injecting the heroin into his left hand.
The inquest heard that after a couple of hours Mr Hibberd became drowsy and went to sleep at around 3.30am.
Mr Hibberd’s friend woke up just under 12 hours later at 2.45pm and saw him still in the chair where he had left him earlier that morning. He tried to wake Mr Hibberd up by shouting his name and shaking him.
The friend, who had known Mr Hibberd for five years, said: “I just saw the look on his face and I knew he was gone. He was not breathing at all. Nathan spent a lot of time with me when he wasn’t in prison.”
The emergency services were called at 3pm and the paramedic confirmed at 3.24pm that Mr Hibberd had died.
Sergeant Alexander Pocket told the inquest that he attended the scene with colleagues and heard from the others in the house that they had themselves been concerned by Mr Hibberd’s use of drugs because they realised that having been in jail for some time he would not have his usual level of tolerance to Class A drugs.
Sgt Pocket concluded that there was no third party involvement in Mr Hibberd’s death and it was not suspicious.
The Omdbudsman's report was referred to at the inquest and it showed that Mr Hibberd had a drug review at prison on February 8, 2022, during which the subject of overdose on drugs taken on release from prison was discussed.
Mr Hibberd later told his prison therapist on April 12 that he was struggling with the reduction of his methadone prescription. Just over a month later on June 20, having completed a methadone course, Mr Hibberd said he was still struggling by not having the prescription.
The inquest heard that the prison authorities began Mr Hibberd's resettlement plan on August 2 that year but he was due to be homeless on release as he wanted his own council flat and was refusing to accept any other option for accommodation.
On September 7, Mr Hibberd spoke to the Job Centre in Gloucester and made an appointment after he had been released from prison.
The report stated that Mr Hibberd was not subject to any licence conditions on his release on September 9 2022, as he had served his sentence in full. He was not required to contact probation or any other agency. Mr Hibberd was given a travel warrant on his release to get to Gloucester.
Pathologist Dr Terence Jones’s initial report suggested that Mr Hibberd had succumbed to drugs combined with alcohol, particularly as he would have lost tolerance to heroin and cocaine whilst being incarcerated.
A subsequent toxicological report stated that the heroin Mr Hibberd had taken had a depressant effect on his central nervous system which, combined with alcohol, resulted in respiratory issues. The report stated that Mr Hibberd’s cocaine usage was not excessive, but would have affected his body in combination with the other drugs taken and alcohol consumed.
Dr Jones recorded the medical cause of death as heroin toxicity.
Roland Wooderson, assistant coroner for Gloucestershire said: “There is no evidence that Mr Hibberd attempted to take his own life and therefore I conclude this was a drug related death.
**Mr Hibberd jailed for 39 months in 2019 for burglary. The sentence came less than two years after Gloucester's former resident crown court judge, Jamie Tabor KC, gave Mr Hibberd the chance of a suspended sentence, despite his lifelong criminal record, because he believed he could see 'green shoots' of better behaviour from him.
At that hearing, in September 2017, the court heard that Hibberd fought with a householder who caught him red-handed burgling his home in Painswick.
Although Mr Hibberd was already a 'third strike' burglar liable to a minimum of three years jail at that time Judge Tabor passed a two year jail sentence suspended for two years.
The judge told him at that hearing "You are a prolific burglar and a pest - and you are more than that. You are a serious blight on householders in this county.
● In 2019 Mr Hibberd was one of eight 'super' criminals highlighted in the national press for continuing to offend despite being given chances to avoid jail.
Their cases were highlighted in a report by Tory MP Neil O'Brian who said that the number of offenders who dodge prison despite having committed more than 50 crimes each had trebled since 2007.
Mr Hibberd first started offending aged 14. Since then, he had carried out almost 120 crimes.
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