The head of a 'family from hell' who murdered his daughter-in-law after imprisoning and torturing her has died while serving time in prison. In December 2005, Mr Ronald Hudson Sr was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder alongside four other family members.
Nottingham Crown Court had heard Rachel Hudson, a young mum, was tortured, insulted and humiliated by the family members after she moved in with them in Stockhill, Nottingham, in November 2002. Her battered body was found face down in mud in a rolled-up carpet near a lake at Newstead Abbey just 17 months after her wedding. She had suffered more than 60 injuries.
Her body weighed only six stone and was covered with burns and bruises, according to reports. The injuries were such that police at first thought they had found the body of a young boy. Police took weeks to identify her, launching an appeal on the BBC TV programme Crimewatch and consulting Interpol. She was 20 years old.
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In a report of the trial by The Mirror at the time, the 20-year old was described as a "virtual prisoner". Prosecutor Timothy Spencer QC said: "In the language of TV programmes, she had married into the family from hell. They demeaned her, insulted her, her will was sapped and her spirit crushed.
"She was kept a virtual prisoner. Occasionally, she was allowed out but only with one or more minders to watch her every step and certainly never with her two children.
Her husband Craig, his parents Ronald Hudson Senior and Trudi Hudson, his brother Ronald Hudson, and Elisabeth Hogg, were all convicted of her murder. Four of the defendants, along with Shane Hudson and two other Hudson siblings, then teenagers, were also found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice in relation to Rachel's death and the disposal of her body, reports Yorkshire Live.
A new report has confirmed Ronald Hudson Senior died last year after an outbreak of Covid-19 in HMP Humber. Hudson Sr, who was classified as 'obese', had several health conditions including type two diabetes, chronic kidney disease and high blood pressure, a report from Prison and Probation Ombudsman showed. He was moved to HMP Humber, in Yorkshire, on January 29, in 2020.
In mid-February 2021, Humber had a significant outbreak of Covid-19 infections which "escalated quickly". In response, and in accordance with national guidelines, the prison wings went into lockdown, prisoners were isolated in their cells and a mass Covid-19 testing programme was started.
Despite his health conditions, Hudson Sr was not identified as someone that was at risk of becoming seriously ill if he were to catch Covid-19. He was not advised by healthcare staff to shield.
He was tested as part of the mass testing and on March 5, he received a positive Covid-19 test result. He subsequently became unwell and was taken to hospital on March 13. Although Mr Hudson was admitted to hospital for Covid-19, he developed acute pancreatitis while there and died from the condition on March 28.
The post-mortem report concluded that he died from severe acute pancreatitis. Chronic kidney disease and diabetes were listed as contributory factors.
The clinical reviewer concluded Mr Hudson’s clinical care at Humber was equivalent to that which he could have expected to receive in the community. However, it was found healthcare staff failed to identify that Mr Hudson, who was obese and also had type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease, was clinically vulnerable to Covid-19. The report concluded no non-clinical issues of concern were found.
He was the seventh prisoner at Humber to die since March 2019. Of the previous deaths, one was drug-related, two were self-inflicted and three were from natural causes - all from Covid-19. In one of the previous investigations into a death from Covid-19, it was found healthcare staff had also failed to identify the prisoner, who was obese, was clinically vulnerable to the virus.
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