A prisoner died in hospital yesterday after he was taken to Mater Dei Hospital on Sunday, the Home Affairs Minister said today.

A ministry statement said that the prisoner, understood to be Jason Decelis, 38, was taken to hospital on Sunday morning after he collapsed. The prison's doctor ordered that the prisoner is taken to hospital after he could not get up from bed. Decelis, along with his mother, was jailed for 25 years in 2006 for allowing 18-year-old Rachel Bowdler to die of a drug overdose to avoid getting into trouble with the law.

In January he was back in court, charged with dealing in drugs at the law courts.

Police investigations are ongoing and a magisterial inquiry has been launched.