153 Days of Horror: The Torture of Jimmy Prout

26 January 2025

The shocking murder of Jimmy Prout, a vulnerable 45-year-old man with mental health challenges, occurred in North Shields in 2016. Jimmy fell victim to a group led by the manipulative Zahid Zaman. Although Jimmy viewed the group as his friends, he was subjected to Zahid’s cult-like control, enduring psychological abuse, and unimaginable violence described as ‘dark ages’ style torture, ultimately resulting in his tragic death.

This article contains descriptions of violent or distressing events – reader discretion advised

Table of Contents

Group Beginnings

Leader: Zahid Zaman

In the early 2000s, Zahid Zaman was living in Sheffield. He claimed to have been in a car accident with a police car, which left him in a coma and needing to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Zahid was an avid online dater and would portray himself as a wealthy, influential man on his dating profiles, posing in front of fake, solid gold bars in an attempt to appear more attractive.

However, the persona he portrayed was a lie. Zahid Zaman was a manipulator who exploited people for both emotional and material gain. He would claim to have an amazing job and earn good money, but in reality, he was unemployed. The wheelchair he claimed to rely on was a means to obtain financial benefits and garner sympathy from others. While many wheelchair users are not constrained by constant use, Zaman was seen on numerous occasions moving freely: carrying furniture, running after buses, and even jumping out of his wheelchair to start fights.

Over the years, Zahid perfected his skills as a manipulator, preying on the lonely and vulnerable. He positioned himself as a saviour-like figure, using his charm to draw people into his inner circle, making them feel dependent on him and grateful to him, which allowed him to exert control over them. Ultimately, Zahid’s manipulative tactics resulted in the creation of a devoted group of followers, which the media would subsequently label the ‘North Shields death cult’.

Kay Rayworth

The first of Zahid’s followers was a woman named Kay Rayworth, whom he met through online dating in 2005. Kay was born on November 10th, 1960, and was 13 years Zahid’s senior. She lived at 35 St. Stephen’s Way in Percy Main; a small village incorporated into the town of North Shields in the north of England. She had been married twice before and had two children from her first marriage. Before meeting Zahid, Kay was described as a happy person who participated in community activities such as singing in her local church choir and playing cricket at her local village hall.

When Kay met Zahid online, she was drawn to his lavish profile. She had been struggling with her mental health after her second divorce, and Zahid took advantage of her vulnerable situation. Soon after meeting, Zahid made the move from Sheffield to North Shields and moved into Kay’s home. This was a sudden move, and Zahid most likely saw Kay’s property as financially beneficial to him.

Kay was so taken in by Zahid that she failed to notice his rapidly escalating campaign of physical and psychological manipulation. In 2007, Zahid convinced her to purchase a second home at 75 St. Stephen’s Way, just down the street from her current address at number 35. Zahid exerted complete control and dictated where the furniture could go in her own house. He flew into rages over small things, getting up from his wheelchair to beat her, and was seen hitting her in the head with a stick on more than one occasion. He would spit in her face. He would smash holes in the walls with a hammer, which was both terrifying and intimidating. Zahid claimed that because of the brain injury he received in the car accident, he could not control his anger and would then blame Kay for making him angry.

Kay could only do things with Zahid’s permission. He wanted her to convert to Islam, and she wasn’t allowed see her non-Muslim friends nor attend her Christian church anymore. He would isolate her from her family too, even stopping Kay from seeing her own children. He was a narcissist who controlled every aspect of her life, transforming her from a happy, social person into someone isolated and alone. If she tried to leave him, Zahid emotionally blackmailed her into staying with him, threatening to harm himself if she tried to leave. He claimed to have overdosed one time and told Kay he would only get his stomach pumped if she went back to him. He even claimed to wear a bulletproof vest because gangsters in Sheffield were after him. He told Kay he had gangster friends who would do his bidding. His intimidation tactics forced Kay into believing he was dangerous, which left her too scared to leave him.

Jimmy Prout

James Prout, affectionately known as Jimmy, was born in 1970 in the Scotswood area of Newcastle in the Northeast of England. He was one of eight siblings and had a tough upbringing. Growing up, his father was often absent, and his mother struggled with mental health issues. The family lived in one of the toughest neighbourhoods in Newcastle, where survival was a daily struggle, leading Jimmy to turn to petty crime to support his family. As a result, he was placed in a care home in Wales until he reached the age of 16. According to his brother Eddie, Jimmy became withdrawn after leaving the care system, and Eddie believed Jimmy had been the victim of sexual abuse.

Despite his learning difficulties and struggles with reading and writing, Jimmy was skilled with his hands and could repair anything. He was a natural handyman, often called upon by his neighbours to fix things. Jimmy was well-liked in his community and described as a kind and gentle person, quite different from the tragic figure he would later become. Leigh McGregor, who knew Jimmy through the church, described Jimmy as a lad with a heart of gold:

He would fly to the moon and back just to help you. He was so kind-hearted that nothing was too good for him to do for you. (13)

In 1990, Jimmy met his partner, Mandy Carter, and they had two children together. However, he encountered financial troubles and fell back into petty crime. Without the necessary mental health support, Jimmy became homeless. By the mid to late 2000s, Jimmy became a regular user of homeless services, including soup kitchens, and it was around this time that he encountered Zahid Zaman at the People’s Kitchen in Newcastle.

Zahid frequently visited the soup kitchen under the guise of volunteering, but his true intention was to seek out vulnerable individuals to recruit into his gang. Zahid charmed Jimmy with stories of heroism, manipulating Jimmy into believing he was a good person. Zahid offered Jimmy a place in his group, and he ended up moving into number 75. Zahid provided Jimmy with companionship and a sense of belonging, leaving Jimmy completely unaware of the horrors that awaited him under Zahid’s tight control.

Myra Wood

The next woman to join Zahid’s group was Myra Wood, who was born on the 29th of October 1966. Myra had gone through a divorce and connected with Zahid on Facebook in 2009. The two quickly hit it off. Myra had previous for child cruelty when she left her children at home to meet a man in London, and then in 2013, she went to prison for 16 weeks for stealing from an elderly man. When she got out of prison in July, she had nowhere to live, and Zahid invited her to join Jimmy and move into 75 St. Stephen’s Way. Oddly, however, despite Zahid and Myra now being in a romantic relationship, Zahid continued living at number 35 with Kay. And soon, Zahid began exhibiting the same controlling behaviour towards Myra as he had done with Kay. Myra worked as a cleaner, but Zahid took the wages she earned. She also became Zahid’s carer, but Zahid also took the carer’s allowance benefit she got. When Myra’s daughter, Elizabeth, later testified in court, she said she would try to contact her mother but get no response. She said she couldn’t even call Zahid’s and Myra’s partnership a relationship because he was in complete control of her.

Ann Corbett

The final member of the group was Ann Corbett, who was born on November 8th, 1990. Ann met Jimmy at the People’s Kitchen in Newcastle in 2013 and later began a relationship with him before moving into number 75 with him and Myra. Ann was in her 20s and was significantly younger than Jimmy and the rest of the group. She also had learning difficulties, and combined with her younger age, her naivety and vulnerability made her the ideal recruit for Zahid’s group.

The Neighbour from Hell

When Zahid Zaman first moved to Percy Main, he portrayed himself as an upstanding citizen and a pillar of the community. He was actively involved in various charity events, such as volunteering at the local soup kitchen, and was even photographed with the mayors of Newcastle and Gateshead for his charity work. He was also featured in a local newspaper as a hero for finding a neighbour’s missing dog. Zahid was offered a reward, but he refused it, claiming that he was just happy the neighbour got their dog back and that he loved dogs.

However, the persona he portrayed was a lie. The reality was that Zahid was a nuisance, intentionally provoking people just to elicit a reaction from them. He would make excessive noise at random hours, banging and hammering on the walls in an attempt to disturb them. Zahid had also installed CCTV cameras around his properties and frequently wore a body camera, not for security purposes, but to spy on his neighbours, hoping to catch them doing something he could report to the police or local council.

Zahid was constantly trying to provoke his neighbours. He was rude and insulting, picking fights and goading them into reacting. Whenever Zahid filed complaints against them, he would tell the police that they were being racist or discriminating against him due to his disabilities, which was not the case.

On one occasion, he intentionally knocked over everyone’s rubbish bins down the street in his wheelchair, causing a mess, and then tried to get into an argument with a neighbour who confronted him.

In another incident, Zahid confronted a neighbour who had thrown rubbish into his garden and attacked him with a snooker ball in a sock, smashing it into his neighbour’s head. The neighbour was left with a lump on his temple and reported the incident to the police. However, no action was taken against Zahid, and the neighbour was the one who ended up being cautioned by the police.

Zahid also asked a different neighbour to set fire to one of his other neighbour’s sheds in exchange for liquid morphine. The neighbour who set the fire was caught but did not implicate Zahid.

Another neighbour who did paving work for Zahid so that Zahid could get his wheelchair in the house saw him walking around, despite Zahid’s claims of disability. When it came time for payment, Zahid became confrontational, accusing the neighbour of being racist, and recorded him, threatening to report him to the police. The neighbour never received payment.

In 2012, Zahid made a complaint when the local council refused to give him more benefits. When the housing manager, Dawn Statham, responded to him in writing, Zahid fabricated her official letter and replaced it with a series of racial slurs and discriminatory language about him. He then reported her to the police. She was subsequently interviewed by the police under caution and formally investigated.

The letter read:

Dear Mr. Zaman.

You are a fucking P*k* bastard, an immigrant benefit cheat, claiming to be disabled.

We at the council believe that you are the problem, you cause trouble and then claim to be the victim and you are nothing but scum.

We advise you to do the following options: a) Move as we are not interested in helping you. b) Stop moaning to the police as they’ve had enough. c) Accept you are a f***ing P*k* bastard and you’re not disabled but an immigrant benefit cheat.

Every department and employee at the council agrees with this...

In order to conclude why don’t you kill yourself and save us loads of money, since your life is that bad due to alleged hate crimes.

Yours sincerely

Dawn Statham

Fortunately, the letter was determined to be a forgery, although the entire incident was a distressing experience for the council employee and illustrates the extreme lengths Zahid was prepared to take in order to manipulate people into getting his way.

Ultimately, Zahid’s constant provocations and false reports to the authorities made him a nuisance to the entire community, who came to despise him.

The Leader from Hell

Between 2007 and 2015, the group had established itself across the two houses. Zahid and Kay lived at number 35, while Myra, Jimmy, and Ann were living at number 75. This almost compound-like arrangement allowed Zahid to exert even tighter control over his followers. And just as vile as he was in the community, behind closed doors, he wasn’t any better.

There was a clear hierarchy in the group, with Zahid at the top, followed by Kay and Myra as his eyes and ears, then Ann, and finally Jimmy at the bottom, who was treated the worst of the group. Neighbours would see the group walking down the street in a line behind Zahid, who would be in the front in his wheelchair, with the others following behind in their specific order. This would later be described as cult-like behaviour in court.

Each member of the group lived under Zahid’s strict rules. They were isolated from the outside world, cut off from their friends and family, and required to demonstrate loyalty to Zahid at all times. They were forced to adhere to Zahid’s beliefs while he dictated everything they thought and did. Zahid’s rules extended into every aspect of their daily lives, reinforcing their detachment from the outside world and their dependence on him. Zahid maintained control through manipulation, isolation, and intimidation tactics. They were conditioned to believe that loyalty to him was paramount, isolating themselves from anything or anyone that could challenge his authority.

Zahid would physically assault members of the group and would become angry over the smallest things. He would get out of his wheelchair to hit them with a hammer or hold a knife to their throats. He tried to strangle Myra a couple of times and sat on her until she lost consciousness from being unable to breathe.

Zahid constantly demanded sex from Kay and Myra. He had disturbing fetishes and forced them to drink his urine. He was into bestiality and asked the women to have sex with his dogs, which they refused to do. When Zahid was arrested, the police recovered a number of videos showing women having sex with animals on his computer.

However, the abuse within the group was not only carried out by Zahid. The once-vulnerable individuals he had drawn to him were now under his control. Isolated from society and trapped in a cycle of dependency and fear, Zahid’s followers complied with his demands and participated in the mistreatment of each other. And the worst treatment was reserved for Jimmy, who was at the bottom of the group’s hierarchy.

The Torture of Jimmy Prout

Jimmy Prout was subjected to severe physical and psychological abuse by all four members of the group. The abuse began gradually, with Jimmy being forced to do all the menial tasks around the two homes, such as cooking, cleaning, and maintenance work. If the work was not done to a certain standard, he would be beaten.

However, in 2015, things turned drastically worse for Jimmy when Ann’s brother, Ivan, came to stay with them at number 75. Zahid strongly disliked Ivan, probably because he couldn’t be as easily manipulated as the other members of the group. One day, Zahid’s tools went missing. It is unknown who took the tools, and though Zahid suspected it was Ivan, he could not direct his anger towards Ivan, and so instead, unleashed it all on Jimmy.

Jimmy would be beaten black and blue by the group on an almost daily basis. Zahid would even instruct the others on what to do while he sat back and watched from his wheelchair. The abuse went on for weeks and became increasingly sadistic, with Zahid purchasing various new tools, such as a rubber mallet, to beat Jimmy. Jimmy was forced to stand for hours, never allowed to sit down. The group would smash glass bottles over his head, take turns strangling him, and stand on him until he could no longer breathe. Jimmy’s food was also restricted, causing him to lose a significant amount of weight, leaving him frail and weak. By depriving Jimmy’s body of food, his body’s ability to heal itself after the beatings was also significantly impaired.

The final few months of Jimmy’s life were hell. Zahid forced Jimmy to engage in sexual acts with his dogs. In another horrific display of torture, Zahid used a pair of pliers to remove Jimmy’s teeth one by one. Zahid would even use a hammer and chisel to smash any teeth that the pliers couldn’t pull out. Jimmy endured this agonising ordeal without any pain relief and was screaming in agony.

In another disturbing incident, Zahid announced to the group that he planned to remove one of Jimmy’s testicles. After asking Jimmy which one he wanted removing, he then handed a Stanley knife to Ann, instructing her to do it. When Ann refused, Zahid proceeded to do it himself, slicing open Jimmy’s scrotum and removing one of his testicles.

But Zahid’s sadistic acts did not end there. He took the severed testicle to the kitchen, boiled it in water, and then returned to the living room and forced Jimmy to eat it. By this point, Jimmy was completely broken and complied with Zahid’s demands, despite the excruciating pain. Zahid then heated a metal bolt on the gas stove and pressed it onto the wound to cauterize it, before instructing Ann to sew it up. This amateur procedure was repeated several times after the stitches burst. Ann later testified in court that Jimmy was screaming in agony throughout the procedure.

During Jimmy’s ordeal, the women stood by and did not intervene. In fact, they found Jimmy eating his own testicle hilarious and were laughing at him and asking him how it tasted. In court, they testified about how scared they were of Zahid, which was probably true, but their inaction is shocking. They would have had numerous opportunities to get help. The CCTV footage of Jimmy’s harrowing final days even shows the complicity of these women. The footage depicts Jimmy being dragged along the street by Myra and Kay. Jimmy looks frail and weak, stumbling about and struggling to walk properly.

Many people in the community also witnessed incidents involving Jimmy. One neighbour on St. Stephen’s Way said that in late January 2016, she left her home at 7.30 a.m. and found Jimmy sitting on the ground leaning against her gate. It was bitterly cold outside, and the pavement was white with frost. Jimmy was wearing just a sleeveless jacket, but he was bare under that, with no top or shoes on. His eyes were sunken. He looked ill. He was thin and covered in bruises all over his body, arms, and face. The neighbour said he was disorientated, and saying, “help us”. She did try to help him, but he didn’t want her to ring anyone.

Another neighbour said Jimmy nearly fell on top of his railings. The neighbour said Jimmy looked extremely weak, as if he was sick, and looked very white and pale and unsteady on his feet. Fortunately, Jimmy managed to grab the railings as he fell, otherwise he would have impaled himself.

When another neighbour noticed Jimmy had a black eye, cuts, and bruises all over him, the neighbour inquired if Jimmy had been in a fight. Jimmy lowered his head, evidently too afraid to speak in front of the group. Zahid intervened and explained that Jimmy had been assaulted by a group of men who had jumped out of a car wielding baseball bats. Zahid frequently spoke on Jimmy’s behalf, which was another indication of the coercive control he exercised over Jimmy and the group.

Another witness was actually shown photos of Jimmy’s injuries by the group. She said Zahid wanted her to see them, as if he was proud of what he had done. The witness claimed Myra was laughing as she was shown the pictures.

The most shocking aspect is that Jimmy went to the hospital three times in two weeks with various injuries, yet no one recognised the signs of abuse.

On the November 27th, 2015, Jimmy sought treatment at the accident and emergency department of North Tyneside General Hospital. Dr Martin Anfield saw him and observed that Jimmy had bruises to his face and head, including bruising under his left eye, two wounds to his nose, abrasions and wounds to his forehead, bruising to the inside of his lip, bruising to the right side of his face and ear, and scratch marks to his neck. Jimmy had extensive bruising to his left shoulder and bruising to his right shoulder. He had bruises and deep scratches on his arms, a wound to his left ring finger, abrasions, bruising, and lacerations to his legs, and bruising to his back. He had an abrasion to the back of his neck. Jimmy also had stab wounds to his left shoulder, left upper arm, and there was a triangular stab wound to his scrotum, although this was before the occasion upon which Jimmy’s scrotum was sliced open and his testicle removed. Jimmy also had a serious fracture to his left shoulder, which the doctor claimed was Jimmy’s main complaint. The doctor thought Jimmy must have been hit with something hard or fallen from a great height.

Jimmy told Dr Anfield that he had been assaulted by several people. He said he had been kicked, punched and hit with a baseball bat or something similar. However, Jimmy was reluctant to identify his attackers. The police were called out on the doctor’s instruction, and PC Martin Ayre attended the hospital to interview Jimmy. Jimmy told the officer that nine days earlier, he had been attacked as he walked through Percy Main by people with baseball bats. Jimmy claimed one of his attackers was Ann’s brother, Ivan. When PC Ayre walked out through the waiting room, he said Zahid and Ann were there, and Ann claimed to have received threats from her brother. When the police went to speak to Zahid, he said Jimmy told him he sustained his injuries by falling off his bike. No further action was taken.

Clearly, Jimmy was too afraid to reach out for help at the hospital with Zahid present. But he did want help. On November 30th, 2015, a few days after his hospital visit, Jimmy posted photographs of his injuries to Facebook. Jimmy had posted several photos of himself with captions like, “My bodie hurt” and “My sholder hurts” and “My cheak hurts” and “My tuth hurts”. But sadly, no one so much as interacted with his posts, let alone helped him. The only interaction he had was from Ann, who liked his posts.

Jimmy attended additional medical appointments at the hospital or with his GP, but he was always accompanied by members of the group. The doctors did not attempt to speak with Jimmy privately, and he was too afraid to speak up on his own. Perpetrators of domestic abuse often insist on attending appointments in order to maintain control over their victims, and it is considered best practice to try to speak with individuals alone.

However, this did not occur in Jimmy’s case. The group even told the doctor that Jimmy had removed his own teeth. It is hard to believe that even if the doctor believed Jimmy had pulled out his own teeth, that would not have warranted at least some form of mental health support. Incredibly, a Domestic Homicide Review conducted after Jimmy’s murder determined that the authorities had 17 separate opportunities to save him.

The Murder of Jimmy Prout

The final days of Jimmy Prout’s life were marked by relentless torture and neglect. He was severely malnourished and showed clear evidence of prolonged abuse. However, Zahid and the others displayed no remorse, ignoring Jimmy’s suffering until finally, on February 9th, 2016, his pain became so unbearable that he was lying awake, screaming in agony. Myra and Ann were trying to sleep, but Jimmy’s screaming angered them. At 5.02 a.m., Myra sent a text to Zahid saying, “This bastard had me awake all fucking night”. In response, Zahid and Kay went to number 75 to confront Jimmy. When they arrived, the group gathered to figure out how to silence him. Zahid instructed Ann to take a pair of trousers and use them to gag Jimmy by tying them around his face, covering his mouth. This did stifle his screams, and the group felt satisfied that Jimmy would now be quiet. They all then went back to bed. But tragically, Ann had also covered Jimmy’s nose, preventing him from breathing. About an hour later, a check was made on Jimmy, and he was found not breathing and without a pulse. Jimmy Prout had died. He was 45 years old.

Within just 30 minutes of discovering Jimmy’s lifeless body, the group were together, hatching a plan to dispose of his body. Kay collected a spare wheelchair from number 35, and then Jimmy’s body was wrapped inside two sleeping bags before being placed in the wheelchair. His body was then wheeled to a nearby wasteland only about 100 meters from the house. The group believed that if Jimmy’s body was found, it would be assumed that because of his history of homelessness, he had died of hypothermia or some other natural cause, as is sometimes the case with people living on the streets.

It was evident that Zahid had no remorse and believed they would get away with what they had done. After disposing of Jimmy’s body, the group returned to number 35 and burned any evidence that could link them to the crime. They then returned to their normal routines. Zahid and the others tried to act innocent, pretending to search for Jimmy and asking people in the neighbourhood if they had seen him as though they were concerned for his welfare. Zahid’s behaviour was highly manipulative, and he was able to lie effortlessly in the situation. In fact, as the weeks went by, the group truly believed they had gotten away with the murder to the point that Zahid instructed Kay and Ann to return to Jimmy’s corpse and retrieve his bank card. Bank records and CCTV footage would later reveal the group withdrawing cash from various ATMs on days corresponding to when Jimmy would receive his benefit payments.

Six weeks went by, and the group almost did get away with Jimmy’s murder. However, in the end, their own actions led to their downfall. Zahid, believing that Ann was on the verge of going to the police, forged a three-page confession letter and signed it with Ann’s name, hoping to shift the blame onto her. Ann then went on the run, and on March 25th, Zahid called the police and reported Jimmy missing. He also claimed to be in danger, telling them that Ann had murdered Jimmy and was now trying to kill him as well.

However, the police saw through this ruse. They arrested Zahid, Myra, and Kay the very next day, describing the group’s actions as nothing more than pure theatre. The group had known for six weeks where Jimmy’s body was, and everything they did and said was all an act.

Eventually, the police were able to track down Ann as well, and all four members of the group were taken into custody. During the interrogations, the group members turned on each other, demonstrating the lack of loyalty within the group. Ann finally confessed the truth about what had happened to Jimmy and where the police could find his body.

On the afternoon of March 27th, 2016, which was Easter Sunday, the police discovered Jimmy’s body on the wasteland near St. Stephen’s Way. The green colour of the outer sleeping bag had camouflaged Jimmy’s body in the trees and bushes. Jimmy’s body was badly decomposed and had been partially eaten by wildlife, so a cause of death couldn’t be determined. However, the evidence of the extreme torture and abuse he had endured was clear. His teeth had been removed, broken, and smashed. One of his testicles had been removed. His body was covered in stab marks and extensive bruising, and he had a tattoo on the back of his neck scratched out. The police also found Jimmy’s social media posts pleading for help, as well as the CCTV footage showing Jimmy being dragged around by the group.

Legal Proceedings and Trial

A year later, in May 2017, a six-week trial began. The group all denied causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult between November 1st, 2015, and March 26th, 2016, but they all pleaded guilty to committing acts intended to pervert the course of justice between February 5th, 2016, and March 26th, 2016.

Zahid attempted to portray himself as an innocent, honest, vulnerable man who had to use a wheelchair after a life-changing accident. However, Kay, Myra, and Ann, all testified to his manipulative and abusive character, and provided harrowing details about the torture he carried out on Jimmy or ordered them to carry out on Jimmy. The prosecution argued that the methods of violence and abuse Zahid carried out belonged in the Dark Ages, and that without Zahid’s control and influence, the murder would never have occurred.

The court delivered the following verdicts:

Ann Corbett (26) was found guilty of murder and received a minimum sentence of 27 years. The court recognised her direct involvement in the murder, her participation in the torture, and her role in the cover-up.

Zahid Zaman (43) was convicted of murder and received a minimum sentence of 33 years. The judge highlighted Zahid’s role as the evil mastermind, noted his abuse of power and manipulation, and emphasised his total lack of remorse.

Kay Rayworth (56) and Myra Wood (45) were acquitted of murder but found guilty of causing or allowing the murder of a vulnerable adult. Each received a sentence of nine years and eight months. Their sentences reflected their responsibility in allowing Jimmy’s death, their failure to prevent the abuse, and their role in maintaining the group’s deception.

People in the public gallery shouted, “I hope you f***ing rot in hell,” as the group were led away to start their sentences.

**Zahid Zaman, Ann Corbett, Myra Wood, Kay Rayworth**

Conclusion

The Domestic Homicide Review conducted after Jimmy’s tragic death identified 17 missed opportunities to intervene and potentially save him. The review found that Jimmy was not recognised as a potential victim of abuse and exploitation but was instead viewed as a perpetrator of domestic violence. Jimmy was unfairly stigmatised as a criminal due to his past offender status. No single agency had a comprehensive understanding of Jimmy’s situation, and there were numerous missed chances for agencies to share information, initiate safeguarding procedures, or provide other necessary interventions. The report highlights a concerning lack of professional curiosity across all involved agencies, where they failed to delve deeper or take appropriate action, instead making assumptions and accepting things at face value. Tragically, the review found very few examples of agencies looking beyond the surface, even in these highly unusual circumstances.

Additionally, the abuse that Jimmy suffered was happening in plain sight of the community. People could see what was happening to Jimmy, as well as the changes in Kay since Zahid moved in with her. The community was clearly concerned. However, given the apparent lack of support from official services, it is unlikely that even if Zahid had been reported to the authorities, any meaningful action would have been taken.

Fortunately, the review has made a number of recommendations to prevent others from suffering the same fate as Jimmy. The various agencies involved are now working to implement all the recommendations outlined in the Action Plan and Executive Summary. This includes improving communication, building on existing partnerships, and adopting a more open and holistic approach to supporting vulnerable residents across multiple agencies, ensuring they are protected at every point of contact with a service.

Ultimately, Jimmy’s tragic case has brought greater awareness to the plight of vulnerable people in society, inspiring increased awareness and discussions around the critical importance of mental health support, community involvement, and vigilance in protecting the most vulnerable members of our society. It has also highlighted the need for services to work together more effectively in providing support, to prevent similar heartbreaking cases from occurring in the future.

Please, if you see something, say something.
(Paul Hanson, Chief Executive of North Tyneside Council) (16)

Sources

TV

Britain’s Most Evil Killers: Zahid Zaman. Season 7, Episode 7. 2022.

Newspapers

Chronicle Live:

BBC News:

Others:

Torturers forced Jimmy Prout to eat his own TESTICLES – Daily Mail Online