An 80-year-old convicted sex offender sentenced to 17 years’ imprisonment for repeatedly raping and sexually abusing a schoolgirl in Coventry has died in prison.
John Conway died at HMP Stafford on 2 October 2026, approximately 15 months into his custodial sentence. His death is the subject of an independent inquiry by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, with no official cause of death yet published.
Conway was convicted following a trial at Warwick Crown Court in June 2025 relating to a prolonged campaign of historical sexual abuse. The court heard that Conway targeted a young girl known to him between 1978 and 1985, carrying out multiple rapes and indecent assaults across properties in the Boxhall and Moorfields areas of Coventry.
Decades after the offending took place, the survivor came forward to disclose the abuse to police. When questioned by detectives during an interview in 2020, Conway denied all the allegations. Following further enquiries, he was formally charged in 2021 with counts of rape and indecent assault.
Jurors at Warwick Crown Court rejected his denials and convicted him across the indictment. The trial judge sentenced Conway to 17 years’ immediate imprisonment and made him subject to notification requirements on the Sex Offenders Register for life.
Following his death in custody on 2 October 2026, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman opened an investigation into the circumstances, as is standard procedure for all deaths in penal custody.
Image – Anonymous Artist Impression
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