A Pembrokeshire paedophile, convicted of raping girls as young as seven, has died while serving his time in prison.

Stephen Bladen, formerly of Sycamore Street, Pembroke Dock, was 55 when he was convicted of 33 sexual offences in 2015.

These included the rape of a girl when she was about seven years old and the rape of another before she was 11.

Indecent assault charges included one of trying to rape a girl when she was only five years of age.

Bladen was also found guilty of possessing indecent images of children.

The trial heard that Bladen’s offending began in the mid-1980s and continued until 2015.

He raped an eight-year-old girl after threatening to kill her favourite bunny rabbit to get her not to struggle.

He raped another girl after promising to give her sweets.

One of his victims was just four or five when he stripped her naked and performed an indecent act.

The offending came to light when one of his victims decided she could not remain quiet any longer.

The trial heard that in police interviews Bladen, a painter and decorator, had denied all offences, saying he was “perplexed and stunned” by the accusations.

Bladen was found guilty in December 2015 and jailed for 21 years by Judge Keith Thomas at Swansea Crown Court.

His barrister, Carina Hughes, said at the time that he still did not accept his guilt, despite the jury’s verdicts.

An inquest this month at Stourport Coroners Court heard that Bladen had died while an inmate of Long Lartin Prison, Worcestershire.

The inquest heard that Bladen had been diagnosed with diabetes in January 2021.

He signed a formal Advance Decision to Refuse Treatment, a legally binding document that communicates a decision to refuse a specific type of treatment at some time in the future.

“[This] was respected by staff at the prison as he had capacity to make that decision,” said the coroner.

The inquest heard that, over the following weeks, Bladen’s condition deteriorated and on February 16, 2021, he was transferred to Pershore Community Hospital for end of life care, where he died the following day.

The medical cause of death was given as ketoacidosis, a condition that can occur when people with diabetes run out of insulin in their body. The secondary medical cause of death was given as diabetes mellitus.