Inmate convicted of anti-immigration riots hangs himself after voicing strong sense of injustice

Peter Lynch, a 61-year-old father of four from Wath upon Dearne, was convicted of violent disorder for his participation in the August 2024 anti-immigration riots at the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, and sentenced to two years and eight months. He was found dead by hanging in his cell at HMP Moorland, South Yorkshire, on 19 October, just two months after his arrival. The Prisons Ombudsman report recorded that Lynch felt a strong sense of injustice about his sentence and was visibly upset, yet there was little evidence of a crisis or suicide risk prior to his death.

A mental-health triage on 24 September found no suicidal ideation, and Lynch refused medication or further mental-health support. On 17 October he was placed on disciplinary report for using racist and inflammatory language, and he made four calls to his family on 18 October without mentioning self-harm. CCTV showed an officer delivering written disciplinary details to his cell on the evening of 18 October, after which Lynch was last seen alive. Prison staff entered his cell at 6:24 am on 19 October and found him deceased, entering only after obtaining permission from the night orderly officer.