David Richards, 42, the former boss of male stripper group Dreamboys, has been found dead in his cell weeks after being jailed for trying to kill his ex-model girlfriend with an axe.
His body was found in Lowdham Grange prison in Nottinghamshire yesterday.
It’s reported after the former Dreamboys boss was discovered lifeless in his cell, the Category B men’s prison – which houses around 900 inmates – was put into lockdown.
Richards was found guilty of the attempted murder of Alex Alam last year, after seeing TV reality star Kirk Norcross giving her a ‘goodnight kiss’ outside her home in Stock, Essex.
In January, Richards broke down in tears as he was sentenced to 27 years in prison for trying to kill 32-year-old Ms. Alam.
An independent investigation has since been launched at the Category B men’s jail, which was put on lockdown after the discovery.
The court heard how Ms. Alam had made a FaceTime call to Norcross begging him to rescue her children during the attack last April, which left her needing more than 100 stitches for life-changing injuries.
‘It’s a huge shock. Richards’s case was high profile and so he had kept his head down since arriving at the nick.’
A probe into what happened on Monday was launched immediately, according to DailyMail.
A spokesperson for HMP Lowdham Grange said: ‘We can confirm that a prisoner died at HMP Lowdham Grange on 13 March 2023.
‘The next of kin have been informed and our thoughts are with the family.
‘As with all deaths in custody, there will be an investigation by the independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman and therefore we are unable to comment further at this stage.’
Richards, who established the male strip show brand before selling the business for £1m in 2019, had been in a nine-year relationship with Ms Alam and built a luxurious house complete with stables for them to share, placing the property in both of their names.
But the ex-boxer was abusive towards Ms Alam throughout the relationship, and she had repeatedly reported him to police for alleged coercive control before throwing him out of the house.
She then succeeded in getting a non-molestation order against him after making a claim of assault against him.
But after being questioned by police, Richards waited outside the house for five hours. He saw 34-year-old Kirk leave the property, giving Ms Alam a ‘kiss goodnight’ as he went.
Then attacked Ms. Alam, hitting her over the head repeatedly with an axe while shouting the name of the TOWIE star.
He then attempted to strangle the former model and continued hitting her with the axe.
She told the court as he was convicted: ‘Every time I was screaming or begging he was getting more angry. I realised I was going to get hacked to pieces. I knew he was going to do me, and then he was going to do the kids.’
Richards tied up Ms Alam using cable ties and is said to have dragged her around by her hair.
She managed to make up a story about why she had been with Mr Norcross and said she had evidence on her phone, the court heard.
While Richards left her tied up to hunt for the phone, Ms. Alam grabbed a kitchen knife and managed to lock him out, before hiding in a bedroom in the house where she called police and then Mr Norcross.
He told the court that when Ms. Alam phoned him: ‘She was covered in blood. I had never seen anything like it. It was like I was seeing a horror movie.
She said, ‘Kirk come back, I am dying. He has killed me’.
She was in hospital for several days after the attack and needed more than 100 stitches.
Richards fled the scene and drove at speeds of more than 90mph before being stopped and arrested by police.
Prosecutor William Carter told the court Richards was ‘a man who intended to kill.’
Richards denied attempted murder and said he had never had an axe.
But a jury took just four hours to convict him after the week-long trial. He had already admitted breaching the non-molestation order.
