Report reveals reason why "Coronation Street rapist" died in Doncaster prison
The serial sex attacker’s cause of death has been confirmed
A serial sex attacker who was dubbed the ‘Coronation Street’ rapist after spreading terror across northern England died behind bars in Doncaster from brain cancer, a report has confirmed.
Andrew Davies - formerly known as Andrew Barlow and Andrew Longmire – was given 13 life sentences for his crimes and was serving his sentence at HMP Moorland.
Throughout the 1980s, Barlow, from Bolton - dubbed 'The Coronation Street Rapist' - struck mainly in Greater Manchester, but also in four other counties.
He targeted women alone often in their terraced homes after waiting for husbands, or fathers to leave the property in the morning.
Davies, 69, died behind bars on February 28.
He was given 11 life sentences in 1988 for raping 11 women.
In 2010, and then again in 2017, he received two more life sentences for rapes committed in 1981 and 1982, which were linked to him through advances in DNA technology.
One of those was carried out in Sheffield.
He raped a 26-year-old woman at her Sharrow home in front of his victim’s three-year-old daughter on September 7, 1981.
The little one hid as he threatened her mother with a screwdriver and carried out the attack.
His victim, who was at Sheffield Crown Court with her daughter to see him jailed, said: "He's too dangerous to be let out. You don't want that to happen to anyone else."
Following the Sheffield case, Detective Sergeant Ian Harding described Longmire as "every woman's worst nightmare".
He said: "The offence of rape is always horrific for the victims, however this is made even worse by the fact that this lady was in her home and she had a three-year-old child who witnessed the attack.
"This man's history shows him to be every woman's worst nightmare. He is a horrific and utterly prolific offender."
Barlow was sought by police in the 1980s over 11 of the rapes. During the hunt for him he evaded police at Leeds railway station and went on to shoot at two officers when he was finally arrested in Bebington, Merseyside. The officers were not injured and Longmire was later convicted of their attempted murder.
The report by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman said Davies died from natural causes after contracting brain cancer.
The report states: "In October 2017, Mr Andrew Davies was sentenced to life imprisonment for sexual offences. He died of brain cancer on 28 February 2026, at HMP Moorland. He was 69 years old. We offer our condolences to Mr Davies’ family and friends.
"The Ombudsman’s office wrote to Mr Davies’ next of kin to explain the investigation and to ask if they had any matters they wanted us to consider. They did not respond.
"One prisoner contacted us and raised concerns about the care Mr Davies received at Moorland. NHS England commissioned an independent clinical reviewer to review Mr Davies’ clinical care at Moorland.
"The clinical reviewer concluded that the clinical care Mr Davies received at Moorland was of a reasonable standard and was equivalent to that which he could have expected to receive in the community. She made four recommendations on issues unrelated to Mr Davies’ death which the Head of Healthcare will wish to address.
"The PPO investigator investigated the non-clinical issues relating to Mr Davies’ care. We did not find any non-clinical issues of concern. We make no recommendations. We shared our initial report with HMPPS and the prison’s healthcare provider, Practice Plus Group.
"They found no factual inaccuracies. At the inquest, held on 8 April 2026, the Coroner concluded that Mr Davies died from natural causes."