A man who was jailed for stealing laptops containing sensitive information from the offices of the Crown Prosecution Service in Manchester has died in prison.
William Robinson, 55, was found dead at Forest Bank Prison in Salford yesterday.
Matt Spencer, Director at HMP Forest Bank, said: “We can confirm that, sadly, there was a death in custody at HMP Forest Bank on Wednesday, 15 April. Next of kin have been informed and our thoughts are with them.
“We will work with all relevant authorities and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”
There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death and it is not linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Robinson had been jailed for 44 months in September 2018 after admitting burglary and breaching a criminal behaviour order. He had been told he would be released on licence after serving half of his sentence.
A serial burglar, Mr Robinson stole eight laptops containing information about criminal cases from the offices of the CPS in Sunlight House in August 2018.
He had sneaked into the building in Quay Street by 'tailgating' someone entering legitimately through a side door.
Manchester Crown Court was told Robinson, who had 67 previous convictions for 144 offences dating back to 1978 - 53 of which were for burglary - then climbed the stairs to the second floor where he ‘rifled’ through CPS staff lockers before making off with the laptops, worth a total of £3,000, in two stolen backpacks.
As he was leaving, CCTV cameras in the stairwell captured a clear image of Robinson, who was barred from entering the city centre after being convicted in 2015 of stealing equipment from a wedding photographer working at the Midland Hotel.
A police officer recognised him and he was arrested two days later at his home on Condor Walk, Ardwick.
Robinson, who gave his name in court as ‘Billy’, made a ‘full and frank admission’ to police, the court heard.
He told officers he had sold the computers, which were never recovered, to a ‘middle man’ for £200 to pay off a debt.
The computers were protected by passwords and were not accessed after the theft.
In a statement given to the court, the CPS said the break-in caused major disruption, resulting in several custody files arriving late at courts across the north west.
One CPS staff member said she felt ‘violated’ by the break-in and no longer felt her workplace was safe.
Mark Friend, defending, described Robinson as a ‘prodigious user of Class A drugs’ who had battled his addiction for ‘over three decades’.
He added, Robinson, who the court heard lived a ‘very solitary existence’ sharing a home with his 84-year-old mother, was full of ‘contrition’ and had offered to help the police recover the laptops.
