A sadistic child rapist who molested four young girls in a spate of sex attacks dating back to the 1970s has died in prison weeks after testing positive for coronavirus.
Derrick Sheppard, who was originally sentenced to 12 years in jail in 2011, passed away at the age of 82-years-old at HMP Exeter on December 26, 2020.
A year after his sentencing, Appeal Court judges agreed the prison term was “unduly lenient” and did not reflect the gravity of his campaign of abuse. The jail term was increased to 16 years with lawyers correctly predicting he would "die in jail".
Mr Sheppard, previously of Glebe Close, Upton Pyne, near Exeter, was found guilty of three rapes, two attempted rapes and 12 offences of indecency, reports Devon Live.
An inquest was held today, July 25, at Exeter's County Hall into his death. It was heard how the former manual labourer suffered from a number of health problems including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart failure and chronic kidney disease. He was also obese and a heavy smoker.
Mr Sheppard had been serving his sentence at HMP Channings Wood in Newton Abbot until he suffered a fall which was deemed to be related to his Covid-19 diagnosis. He was taken to Torbay Hospital on November 29 and treated for Covid symptoms. Initially, he responded to early treatment, stabilised and was transferred to Totnes Community Hospital where he remained on 24-hour guard.
However, his condition deteriorated due to his multiple health conditions and he was transferred back to Torbay Hospital where a decision was made for him to be put on palliative care at HMP Exeter. It was there he passed away on Boxing Day two years ago.
A post-mortem examination confirmed the cause of his death was Covid-19 infection alongside COPD and chronic kidney disease.
The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO), which carries out independent investigations into complaints and deaths in custody, concluded the care Mr Sheppard received was a good standard and at least equivalent to what he would have received in the wider community. Area coroner Alison Longhorn recorded a conclusion of natural causes.
In 2011, Exeter Crown Court heard how one of Mr Sheppard's rape victim's complained to police in 1970, but the complaint was not taken seriously. The offences against girls aged six to 18 took place between 1970 and 2006.
The court heard how a woman, who was 18 at the time, had told police in 1970 she had been raped after being kept prisoner by Sheppard in an Exmouth flat. The victim escaped in borrowed shoes and clothes and dialled 999 from a phone box, where Mr Sheppard was found trying to grab her.
But police did not act until 2011 after Mr Sheppard appeared before magistrates on another sex offence and the rape victim recognised him. The court heard Mr Sheppard's interest in young girls dated back to the 1960s when he used to hang around outside a Sunday school hoping to meet them.
Mr Sheppard denied the offences and forced all four victims to go through the ordeal of a trial. He was branded a sadist by judge John Neligan who criticised police for failing to take an early complaint seriously but praised the current investigation team.
The judge told Sheppard: “You used your victims for sexual gratification and robbed them of their childhood.”
