Family and friends of Knowle West man Kevin ‘Bunny’ Crehan will find out later this year how he died in prison.

A pre-inquest review into his death in Horfield Prison is set to be heard in April, the Bristol Post understands, with a full inquest at the end of the year.

The initial hearing will look at brief circumstances around his death, as well as determine the perimeters Avon Coroners Court will look at.

The 35-year-old was five months into a year-long jail sentence but died on December 27, 2016. There has been mounting speculation about the circumstances around his death.

Crehan was jailed in July 2016 after pleading guilty to an attack on a mosque in January that same year.

The ‘protest’ at Jamia Mosque in Totterdown saw bacon placed on door handles, a St George flag tied to the fence and abuse shouted at two elderly people.

He was sentenced to a year behind bars while Mark Bennett, 48, from Patchway, was jailed for nine months.

(Image: SWNS)

His wife, Alison Bennett, 46, was given a six-month suspended sentence. Angela Swales, 31, from Brislington, was given a four-month suspended prison term.

All four have been ordered not to go within 100 metres of a mosque in England or Wales for the next 10 years.

Crehan was given a jail sentence after a judge said he took into account his past history of convictions for football-related violence.

Judge Julian Lambert called the incident “an attack on England and the principles of freedom of religion”.

(Image: Ben Birchall/PA Wire)

Police said they were not treating the death of Crehan as suspicious.

In March last year, a group of campaigners mounted a protest outside Bristol Crown about Crehan’s sentence and his subsequent death.

The Prison and Probation Ombudsman previously confirmed to the Bristol Post an initial report into his death had concluded and been passed to the coroner.