The boss of a drugs gang that stole rival dealers' cannabis farms has been found dead in Strangeways prison.
Gerard Thompson was jailed for 10 years in 2014 for a series of burglaries targeting rival drug dealers.
The 29-year-old, from Norris Green in Liverpool died at HMP Manchester on November 20, the Liverpool Echo reports.
Thompson, whose brother and fellow Strand Gang member Joey Thompson was shot dead in 2012, was released on licence at the halfway stage of his sentence in May 2019.
But, he was recalled to prison in January this year, after breaching the conditions of his licence.
In 2014, a court heard how how Thompson and an associate, tortured a cannabis farmer with a hammer and screwdriver after tying him up.
A police investigation into the gang recovered only seven ounces of the drug, but pictures taken on their own mobile phones showed gang members holding bin bags full of cannabis and stacks of £20 notes.
Thompson admitted conspiracy to burgle over several raids, and was also found guilty of burglary and assault after the cannabis grower was attacked in his own house and tied to a chair.
In a statement, a Prison Service spokesperson said: "HMP Manchester prisoner Gerard Thompson died in prison on 20 November.
"The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has been informed."
