David Richards, former boss of the Dreamboys stripper group, was found dead in his prison cell after being sentenced to prison for attempting to murder his ex-girlfriend with an axe. Back in April 2022, Richards attacked former model Alex Alam at her home in Stock near Chelmsford after he saw her kissing The Only Way Is Essex TV star Kirk Norcross on her doorstep. Years of abuse culminated in a “bloodbath” assault for which Richards was sentenced to 27 years in prison.
A spokesperson for HMP Lowdham Grange near Nottingham, run by French multi-service firm Sodexo, announced his death on Monday.
They said: “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.”
Following the discovery, the wing – which is home to about 900 other prisoners – was put under lock and key.
An unnamed source told The Sun news of the death came as a “huge shock”.
They said: “Richards’ 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.”
Richards was sentenced to 27 years in jail after he launched a “bloodbath” attack on Ms Alam who suffered three skull fractures and needed 100 stitches.
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In a FaceTime call with Kirk Norcross shortly after the attack, the blood-soaked former model told him “I am dying — he has killed me, he has done me” and begged him to look after her kids.
“He is going to finish us off,” she said.
Kirk, who had only left Ms Alam’s doorstep minutes earlier, ran back and found her children, aged 7 and 3, crying in the hall.
Richards sobbed as he was sentenced to prison in January. He set up the male stripper group Dreamboys before selling it for more than £1million in 2019.
