A jailed sexual predator who abused girls while he was a police officer in the 1970s died behind bars after collapsing in his cell, an inquest has heard. James Glendenning, from Reddish in Stockport, was 93 when he died at HMP Manchester, known as Strangeways prison, on October 29, 2023.
Glendenning had been jailed in November 2018, aged 88, for a string of offences against girls committed while he was a serving police officer. A judge at the time described his crimes as 'utterly depraved and utterly wicked'.
Collapsed in cell
He was found collapsed in his cell during the morning of Sunday October 29, 2023. At first, prison staff thought he had fallen out of his bed. He was taken to Salford Royal Hospital but died later that day.
The inquest into his death, held in Manchester, heard he had a history of heart disease and was fitted with a pacemaker. He had also been diagnosed with vascular dementia.
Cause of death
Dr Daniel Du Plessis, an expert neuropathologist, conducted a post mortem examination and concluded Glendenning died of a spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage caused by amyloid-related cerebral amyloid angiopathy, which is linked to vascular dementia. The prisoner had suffered 'cognitive impairment' due to his vascular dementia, the inquest was told.
Dr Du Plessis said the haemorrhage could have been caused by a fall, although it was more likely he suffered a spontaneous bleed because of his condition which prompted a fall.
No suspicious circumstances
Detective Sergeant Kirsty Roe conducted a 'special procedure investigation' into the death for GMP and concluded there were no suspicious circumstances. Coroner Andrew Bridgman recorded a 'natural causes' death, concluding that Glendenning had suffered a 'non-survivable bleed on the brain which was likely spontaneous in origin'.
He expressed his condolence to the family, although there were none in court for the 'documentary' inquest in which no live witnesses were called, only statements referred to.
'Utterly depraved and wicked'
During his 2018 trial, Glendenning had denied one charge of rape, 10 counts of indecent assault and four counts of indecency with a child. He served with the Royal Artillery before a 17-year career with West Midlands Police.
He was convicted of all counts following a trial and jailed for 23 years. Judge David Stockdale KC, then the Recorder of Manchester, slammed Glendenning's 'utterly depraved and utterly wicked' abuse after hearing horrific details of the crimes he committed against two girls.
Jurors heard one of his victims had been threatened with the cane if they told anyone about the abuse. One girl had screamed in pain and begged Glendenning to stop, the court was told.
Judge Stockdale told Glendenning: "You committed grave offences of sexual assault... at a time when they were young girls. Your offences were utterly depraved and utterly wicked." The judge said Glendenning 'betrayed' the girls' trust, describing his crimes as 'utterly degrading'.
"The girls submitted to you because they had no choice," he added. "You now bring disgrace to your former profession as a serving police officer. It's difficult to imagine a more gross betrayal of trust placed in you by innocent young girls."
The court heard one of the victims went to police in the 1980s but 'her account was not believed'. An investigation was then 'relaunched' following another complaint in 2015.
Judge Stockdale added: "You lied to the police in the mid 1980s. You lied to the police in interview in 2015 and 2016. You lied to the jury over several days in the witness box. Your lies have now been exposed and the accounts of the two complainants dismissed by you as fabrication have been roundly accepted by the jury by their verdicts."
