An armed robber from Kent died after collapsing in the showers in prison, a new report has revealed.

Wayne Cannon had 35 convictions for 80 previous offences when he was jailed in 2019 for knifepoint raids at a fish and chip shop in Margate and a Boots in Westgate-on-Sea.

Homeless Cannon, who had a history of drug abuse and smoked heroin daily, was sentenced to six years in prison and served less than three years, only to be recalled again for breaching bail conditions.

Now, a report from the Prisons & Probation Ombudsman has revealed the 51-year-old died in hospital on July 15 last year after suffering a hypoxic brain injury following a heart attack.

While at HMP Bullingdon in Oxfordshire on July 8, 2022, Cannon went into the communal shower wing at about 3.30pm before collapsing, the document says.

He was found by two other prisoners, who alerted staff members and placed him in the recovery position.

Adrian Usher of the PPO, who investigated the death, said: “One of them said that Cannon was making a gurgling noise and appeared to have swallowed his tongue.

“He placed him in the recovery position and shouted for help.

“A supervising officer was the first member of staff to arrive.”

When the prison employee arrived at the scene, Cannon was slumped over, unresponsive but breathing.

The alarm was sounded, and the in-house paramedic at Bullingdon arrived first.

Resuscitation attempts with a defibrillator started after Cannon went into cardiac arrest.

Mr Usher continued: “The first ambulance arrived at the prison at 4.53pm, with three others arriving in the following half an hour.

“The first paramedic arrived at the cell within six minutes.”

Later investigations revealed that emergency services were delayed by 12 minutes in getting to the patient, as security protocol required them to remove their smartwatches.

It was determined that the delay did not affect Cannon’s outcome but that it could have a significant impact on future medical incidents.

The ambulance left Bullingdon at 5.42pm and arrived at the John Radcliffe Hospital 52 minutes later.

Cannon was accompanied by two escort officers and was not restrained. His condition deteriorated and he died six days later.

No post-mortem was carried out and at an inquest on November 16, the coroner ruled his cause of death as hypoxic brain injury.

This was caused by cardiac arrest, a heart attack and dilated cardiomyopathy – a disease of the heart muscle.

When the criminal arrived at Bullingdon in May 2022, it was found that he had been smoking heroin daily.

He also complained of chest pains and had been diagnosed with hypertension and COPD.

The report deemed that the care Cannon received was equal to what he would have received out of prison.

But delays in paramedics getting to and then leaving the facility were brought into question.

According to local policy, the emergency staff had to hand in their personal phones and watches before they could get to Cannon, and collect them when leaving.

Mr Usher added: “On balance, the delay did not have an adverse impact on Cannon receiving the appropriate clinical care. However, any delay could make a critical difference in future medical emergencies.

“To minimise delays, we recommend the governor review the local security procedures for emergency response staff and vehicles to ensure they do not create avoidable delays in the emergency response.”

At Cannon’s trial in 2019, it was revealed that the robber had been sleeping rough in the area near the Margate fish and chip shop.

Staff there had previously offered free food to him but on May 8 he entered the store, armed with a knife and covering his face with a scarf.

He told the two female employees, who were in the takeaway alone, to open the till, before taking off with almost £500 in cash.

Just a few days later, he went into the Boots store in St Mildred's Road, Westgate, again with his face covered and carrying a knife.

There he demanded staff hand over not only cash from the till but also prescription drugs including Diazepam and other medication.

Staff at the pharmacy recognised Cannon and despite fleeing the scene with some cash and the medication, he was arrested by police the next day.