© Zack Griffiths & Tom Blewitt- HMP Prisons Justice Group
Death of 43‑Year‑Old Man confirmed by Hmp Parc.
The HMP Prisons Justice Group can confirm the death of a man at HMP Parc, marking yet another tragedy in a prison that has faced a sustained and deeply troubling pattern of fatalities, instability, and leadership failures.
This latest loss of life adds to a growing list of deaths that have raised urgent questions about safety, oversight, and accountability within the privately run establishment.
According to official figures, 25 prisoners died at HMP Parc between January 2023 and December 2024, with a total of 42 since 2022 including deaths attributed to natural causes, self‑inflicted harm, drug‑related incidents, and cases still unexplained.
Across Welsh prisons more broadly, 62 deaths have been recorded since 2022, underscoring a wider crisis in custodial safety across the region under the management of the ministry of justice.
HMP Parc has been the subject of increasing scrutiny following a sharp decline in standards documented by HM Inspectorate of Prisons.
Once regarded as one of the more stable prisons in England and Wales, inspectors reported in 2025 that Parc had suffered a “serious decline in standards”, driven largely by an alarming influx of drugs, widespread prisoner frustration, long periods of lock‑up, and insufficient access to food and purposeful activity.
At a time in which Hmp PARC was reported to have been a most profitable prison in the uk whilst also having the highest death rates.
This deterioration has coincided with a spate of tragic deaths, many of which have been linked to illicit substances and failures in basic safeguarding.
The prison has also experienced significant leadership turbulence, with senior directors and managers departing during a period marked by operational strain and public criticism. While leadership changes are not uncommon in the prison estate, the timing and frequency of departures at Parc have contributed to instability and raised concerns about continuity, governance, and the ability to implement sustained improvements, including the new director William styles and his poor record on human rights related abuses at prisons under his leadership, and a lack of authority in prisons under his leadership during the course of failed directorship and governance at Hmp facilities across the country.
The death of this man must be understood within this wider context with deaths in custody triggers mandatory investigations by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, the police, and the coroner, but these processes—while essential—do not address the systemic failures that allow such tragedies to recur. The pattern at Parc is no longer isolated or exceptional; it is symptomatic of a prison struggling to maintain safety, order, and humane conditions.
Last year 2024-2025 – 394 inmate across England and wales last their lives – indeed the highest death statistics recorded on MOJ data since records began – statistically Hmp Swansea with a holding capacity of approximately 400 has 1-50 deaths with (2%) of the holding population dying in a single year with 2 in 100people dying.
In 2024 – 18inmates lost their lives at Hmp Parc Bridgend – with this being as a matter of fact the highest recorded death rate in any single prison ever recorded out of 120 jails holding (89,000) inmates.
This was at a time in which heather whitehead the former director at Hmp parc lost her job due to the huge level of deaths at the jail and a planed riot that was reported being planned at the jail and south wales police that went and ignored the concerns raised us at the group.
The death – trap of a prison has recently been granted millions of millions of pounds of additional contract funding following the signing off of a high risk facility within the grounds at parc making Hmp Parc one of the most lucrative and financially profitable prisons in the uk.
Support of this decisions was driven by Chris Elmore’s praise for gratitude for the management at Parc prison during a visit the the facility last year Chris Elmore mp for Bridgend praised the work of staff commenting on the progress that had been made a untrue statement later rebunked to be a incorrect and misleadingly false to the public by the independent inspector of prisons detailed in a ground breaking report released some months ago.
Hmp prisons justice group has reported extensively in the last few years on hmp Parc, exposing some of the most damaging shameful and extraordinary stories to come out of prisons ever.
Including but not limited to a organised criminal syndicate of violent and abusive officers as referred to by a witness at the jail at the time mr Robert’s in a channel 4 documentary by leading journalist jackie long referring to the crime group of staff as being “the heavy mob” – an illicit and organised crime gang of officers that conducted preplanned and unlawful attacks on inmates, a allegation later unproven by south wales police officers stationed at Hmp Parc’s counter corruption officer Rebecca Palmer.
Rebecca palmer of south wales police was involved in a reportedly unlawful investigation against Zack Griffiths in which he was accused of blackmail, unlawful transmission of prison videos suggested to be taken inside of Hmp Parc, with a total of 7 charges against Zack , resulting in Zack being held on remand accused of the allegations – in which Zack was successful in defending himself and winning all his cases following sacking his barrister and represent himself at Swansea crown court was succesful in winning all cases – a grave embarrassment for the corrupt officers at south wales police and G4S in the set up investigation placed upon him.
In total Zack was threatened with 39 years in prison for the false allegations shortly followed by death threats on Zack by G4s staff with him later being stabbed on the day of his release upon his not guilty verdicts from court. With many saying this was a direct attempt to silence and murder zack due to his exposure of prisons across the uk.
Hmp prisons justice group gathered evidence following the lawful but complex data extraction of a prisons officers phones employed by Hmp Parc last year, in which photographs, data, chat logs and messages were taken from devices of social media account and metadata of emails,messages and chat logs including photographs call recordings and other information during a covert investigation “operation gold star” launched into the heavy mob and other staff at parc, many of which still remains unpublished at this time.
HMP Prisons Justice Group 