In January 2026, the Offender Database reported that Brian Gillard, 82, died in custody at HMP Ashfield, Gloucestershire, on December 19, 2025. Gillard, originally of St Austell, Cornwall, was a convicted paedophile serving a nearly 20-year sentence for a “vile” campaign of sexual and physical abuse against two children that spanned 15 years.
The court heard that Gillard’s offending took place in Basildon, Essex, during the 1970s and 1980s. He repeatedly raped and indecently assaulted a young girl, starting when she was just four years old. He also subjected a young boy to a decade of physical and mental abuse. The historical offences were reported to Essex Police in 2017, and Gillard initially denied the allegations. However, on the first day of his trial at Basildon Crown Court in July 2018, he pleaded guilty to rape of a girl under 16, indecent assault, and cruelty to a child.
Gillard was originally sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment in August 2018. However, following a referral by the then Solicitor General for being “unduly lenient,” the Court of Appeal increased his sentence to 18 years and six months’ imprisonment in October 2018. Solicitor General Robert Buckland noted that Gillard had carried out a traumatic campaign of abuse against the most vulnerable of victims. Investigating officer DC Tiffany Jennings praised the survivors for their “strength and bravery” in coming forward decades after the abuse occurred.
Gillard’s death at HMP Ashfield is currently being investigated by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO), which is standard procedure for all deaths in custody. At the time of his death, he had served approximately seven years of his extended sentence.
Until his death, Brian Gillard was required to register as a sex offender for life. He was managed under the highest level of Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) due to the extreme gravity of his predatory behaviour and the lifelong harm caused to his victims. His death marks the final closure of a case involving some of the most serious non-recent child abuse investigated by Essex Police.
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