Convicted Sex Offender and Former RAF Officer Dies in Hospital

Richard Adrian West, 74, a former RAF officer and convicted sex offender, died at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester just six months after being imprisoned in Winchester Prison.

West, born on July 7, 1942, and previously of Armstrong Rise, Charlton, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison in June 2016 after being found guilty of six counts of historic indecent assault.

Originally facing 11 charges of historic sexual offenses during the 1970s concerning two young girls, West was convicted on a majority verdict at Salisbury Crown Court in November 2015. The jury failed to return a verdict on the charges relating to the second victim.

According to pathologist Dr. Basil Purdue, the cause of death was heart failure due to severe heart disease combined with diabetes.

The court heard that West, who had been largely bed-bound since June 2016, was frail at the time of his death but could stand with the aid of a Zimmer frame.

Senior coroner Mr. Grahame Short concluded that Richard West, who resided in Winchester Prison, died on February 10, 2016, due to natural causes.