Overview
- Clarke, 53, died on October 26, 2025, in a Greater Manchester hospital after being admitted from HMP Styal on October 21.
- The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman confirmed the death and said its inquiry is in progress.
- A coroner opened and adjourned the inquest this week in Warrington, with a pre-inquest review set for January 29, 2026.
- The Prison Service confirmed the death in hospital, and reporting indicates it is not being treated as suspicious as the cause remains unconfirmed.
- Clarke was serving a life term with a 23-year minimum for the 2012 torture and murder of ex-soldier Brian Farmer, as scrutiny of HMP Styal has intensified following a critical inspection citing rising self-harm and recent self-inflicted deaths.