View 2 Images

A former Catholic priest who sexually abused two teenage boys died in hospital while a prisoner, a new report has revealed.

Michael Higginbottom was found guilty by a jury of five counts of serious sexual assault and seven counts of indecent assault. He was jailed in July 2019 for 18 years.

The boys were abused by him as they boarded at St Joseph's College, a Catholic seminary in Upholland, near Wigan in Lancashire, which has now closed, in the 1970s and 80s.

Higginbottom, who taught at the seminary, was convicted after a retrial. A court heard he 'carried out a series of violent sexual assaults' and used a strap or a belt to hit the boys.

The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO), which investigates all prison custody deaths, has now published its report after his d

See Full Page