Pub car park killer was found dead in jail ‘weeks before release’

Henry Ballantyne had nearly completed a 13 year sentence and was allowed into open prison before he was found hanged in his cell.

A prisoner who had nearly served a 13-year sentence for murder was found hanged in his cell shortly before he was due for release.

Henry Ballantyne, 34, joined four other people in a vicious attack on dad-of-two Andrew Ayes, 50, following a row outside a pub in his hometown of Bradford in 2007.

A new report reveals prison officers found him dead in January last year at HMP Kirklevington Grange, an open prison where he had been transferred in 2018.

The report by the Prisons Ombudsman paints a picture of a well-behaved inmate who had begun to be reintegrated into his community but struggled to cope with the deaths of four close relatives in quick succession.

He was on track to be released in spring last year, subject to Parole Board approval, but began fearing he would not be ‘a good enough partner for his girlfriend or brother to his sisters’ on the outside.

The report said Ballantyne immediately got on well with staff and other prisoners after moving to the open prison.

He also held down a number of jobs on day release and gave a talk to a local school about his experience of prison.

His mental health took a turn for the worse after his mother, grandmother and cousin died in the first six months.

By October 2020 he had begun to bounce back, having started a relationship and a job which he enjoyed, only to learn his brother had been found dead under a bridge.

After Ballantyne’s body was discovered in January 2021, prison staff found three notes at the scene from Ballantyne to his aunt, his sisters and his partner.

The report said: ‘He explained that he had not recovered from the deaths of his mother and others and that he found the prospect of release scary without his mother around.

‘He did not think he was a good enough partner for his girlfriend or brother to his sisters.’

A friend said Ballantyne ‘was anxious about getting any negative entries on his record that could change things’.

The report continued: ‘He was also worried about his solicitor and offender manager changing and he believed he had a drugs charge from years ago still pending.’

Mr Ballantyne was ‘not as sociable as he had been’ but his behaviour did not change enough that staff ‘could have foreseen his actions’, the report concluded.

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