Overview
- David Baxendale, a 55-year-old inmate, died at HMP Frankland in County Durham on March 30, 2026.
- The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has opened an investigation, which is routine for deaths in custody.
- Baxendale was serving a whole-life sentence imposed in 2011 for the 2010 murder of Surrey mother-of-three Sarah Thomas.
- After that killing, police said he fled by ferry to Fuengirola using his brother's passport before a public tip led to his arrest and extradition.
- His record includes a 2001 murder in Spain, after which he was deported in 2008 and released in 2009 under Surrey Probation Service supervision.