Murderer Who Killed Elderly Foster Mother Dies at HMP Frankland

A man convicted of murdering a beloved foster mother in her Hartlepool home has died while serving a life sentence at HMP Frankland in County Durham.

Gareth Dack, 41, was jailed in 2016 for the brutal killing of 79-year-old Norma Bell, a woman who had devoted her life to fostering more than 50 children. Dack, a cocaine addict at the time, strangled Mrs Bell before setting her home on fire in an attempt to destroy evidence of the crime.

The Prison Service confirmed Dack’s death on Monday and said the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman would conduct a full investigation.

Dack had been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 33 years. During sentencing, the judge condemned him for the “cold-blooded” murder of a “defenceless woman.”

Mrs Bell’s family described her as having “a heart as big as a lion” and praised her decades of dedication to vulnerable children.

Dack’s death comes amid wider scrutiny of HMP Frankland, following a violent incident earlier this month involving convicted terrorist Hashem Abedi. Abedi, the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber, attacked prison officers with hot oil and improvised weapons. One officer remains in hospital.

HMP Frankland houses some of the UK’s most dangerous inmates and has been the site of multiple serious incidents in recent years.