Paedophile Met Police officer Paul Lamb dies in prison

Paedophile Paul Lamb got away with his crimes for decades after his fellow officers dismissed the girl as an “attention-seeker” in the 1970s, she claimed.

Their inaction left him free to abuse more children.

He was only brought to book decades later, in 2021 – but a report has now revealed that he served just one year before dying of pneumonia and cancer.

The report, by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, uncovered “disappointing” shortcomings in Lamb’s medical care.

“I feel cheated,” said Christine (not her real name).

“He didn’t deserve a death sentence. I don’t believe in revenge or capital punishment. But I believe in justice – and he didn’t really serve much time at all for what he did to us.”

Paul Lamb was jailed in May 2021, but died in in May 2022 - just one year into his 17-year sentence (Image: Humberside Police)

Islington

As a teenager, Christine was placed in the council’s Sheringham Road children’s home.

That was where she met Lamb, who lived a ten-minute walk away in police accommodation near Pentonville prison.

“He was always in the children’s home,” she said.

After Lamb began abusing her at the age of 13 or 14, she said, she reported him at Caledonian Road police station.

“I was totally ignored,” she claimed. “They said, ‘Get out of here, you’re just being an attention-seeker’.

“I was in a children’s home. We were all seen as scallywags. We were never going to be believed.”

The Met Police Service said it could not comment on this claim “given the time that has passed”.

It added that while Lamb was a Met officer, he was “not on duty” when he met and abused Christine.

The Sheringham Road children's home has since been demolished, but former child occupants handed Islington Survivors Network these photographs of the front door and the home's minibus (Image: ISN)

Prosecution

Lamb moved to Yorkshire in the 1980s, where he continued abusing children.

Decades later, Christine approached the Islington Survivors Network (ISN), which helped her report her abuse to the Met again.

Officers discovered Humberside Police were already investigating Lamb over other allegations. The cases were joined.

In May 2021, Lamb, aged 73, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for 19 sex offences, including abusing Christine.

He was sent to HMP Hull.

Christine said the authorities never told her he had died a year later.

'Christine' said she reported her abuse by Lamb as a teenager at Caledonian Road police station (since converted into housing), but was ignored and told to go away (Image: Google Streetview)

Shortcomings

Lamb’s partner raised concerns with the Ombudsman that his treatment was “lacking” and there was “damp in his cell”.

It found his care had been “of a variable standard”.

Lamb arrived at prison with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and osteoarthritis, but there was “no evidence” he was offered appointments to monitor those conditions.

He was diagnosed with breast cancer three months later and underwent surgery.

He complained of pain in his chest in early March 2022 and admitted he had not been taking his medication.

He was not sent to hospital until late April, by which time he had shortness of breath and fatigue.

His cancer had returned and spread, but there was “no evidence” the prison held necessary meetings about his care.

He died on May 27, 2022.

A report by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman found shortcomings in the healthcare Paul Lamb received at HMP Hull (Image: Google Streetview)

Reaction

The ombudsman did not comment on whether better treatment might have prolonged Lamb’s life.

But it said it had already issued advice to HMP Hull in June 2021 about its management of long-term conditions and use of care plans, following a previous death.

“It is therefore disappointing that these issues are evident in this report,” it wrote.

“For survivors, it was a short sentence for the horrors of what they went through,” said Dr Liz Davies, from ISN.

She said further intelligence about Lamb, from another Islington survivor, had never been criminally investigated.

Christine added: “I don’t want anyone to die – just to serve their time and go home. He should have got that a long time ago, but instead he basically got away with it. I think it’s quite shocking, really.”

City Health Care Partnership (CHCP), which provided health services for HMP Hull, said Lamb’s inquest in April 2023 concluded he had died from natural causes.

“CHCP was not an interested party in this case as we were released from the coroner,” it said.

It is no longer HMP Hull’s health provider.

A prison service spokesperson said: “HMP Hull has accepted and implemented the ombudsman’s recommendations, including improving training for healthcare staff.”

*ISN can be reached on 0300 302 0930 or islingtonsn@gmail.com.