David Raid from the Manchester reggae group Xo-Dus passed away in prison while serving a sentence for rape and sexual violence.
Details of His Passing
The investigation revealed that the guitarist Raid died in January 2021 due to heart failure caused by heart disease (through Manchester Evening News). He had been imprisoned since 2013 for a series of historical sexual offenses, including rape and assault against one victim.
Health Concerns in Custody
At the age of 16, he served time at HMP Rye Hill, a Class B training prison in Warwickshire. Suu MacAllister, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, highlighted that the medical care he received was inadequate compared to what he could expect in society.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plbasmto5tu
A government representative, responsible for investigating deaths in custody, mentioned that Raid encountered a “delay” while searching for a camera, though it was unclear if this had any impact on his situation.
Raid pleaded guilty to four charges of assault against the girl but denied four counts of rape against the same victim. He was found guilty by a Manchester court, which determined that he had repeatedly raped and abused the girl in the Moss Side area over a three-year period in the early 1980s.
Reports indicate that he suffered from high blood pressure and paranoid schizophrenia. MacAllister noted that changes in his medication visibly contributed to poor control over his blood pressure.
“The clinical reviewer also found that prisoners with long-term conditions were not managed adequately due to a lack of trained specialized nurses. There was no review system for monitoring prisoners with chronic conditions, and the care was discontinuous, as Mr. Raid was seen by several different general practitioners.”
The group released its most famous single, “English Black Boys,” in 1980 on Factory Records, founded by Tony Wilson, making them the only reggae band represented on the iconic independent label.
https://www.nme.com/news/music/david-reid-of-factory-records-x-o-dus-dies-behind-bars-serving-time-for-rape-and-sexual-abuse-3850255?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=david-reid-of-factory-records-x-o-dus-dies-behind-bars-serving-time-for-rape-and-sexual-abuse
