Another young inmate hanged in 'appalling' jail

A teenage inmate has been found dead in a new unit for juvenile prisoners in Feltham, Britain's biggest youth jail, a month after the deputy governor, Ian Thomas, resigned in protest at what he called "Dickensian" conditions.

A teenage inmate has been found dead in a new unit for juvenile prisoners in Feltham, Britain's biggest youth jail, a month after the deputy governor, Ian Thomas, resigned in protest at what he called "Dickensian" conditions.

Kevin Henson, 17, was hanging by torn sheeting from a light fitting in his single cell at the west London institution. A Prison Service spokesman said yesterday he was found at 7.20am and medical staff had tried to revive him.

During the Nineties, seven other young inmates at Feltham have killed themselves. Last March, a Feltham inmate, Zahid Mabarek, 19, was found dead in his cell after suffering severe head injuries in an allegedly racist attack.

Mr Thomas had told The Independent: "Think about warehousing vulnerable, damaged children in the most dire accommodation, with no constructive regime and poor staffing levels. It doesn't take a genius to work out the possible tragic consequences of such an approach." Suicide attempts were "not unusual". The deputy governor added: "The number of juvenile prisoners nationally appears to have caught all by surprise ... The governor was saying a couple of weeks ago that we are not taking any more inmates but was ordered to take more by the Prison Service headquarters."

Ironically, Mr Thomas had admired the conditions in the newly refurbished Juvenile Centre, the part of the jail where Kevin Henson died.

Deborah Coles, of the death-in-custody charity Inquest, said the Prison Service had failed to heed repeated warnings about the dangers to prisoners at the jail. "How is it possible that a prison with such a shocking record of suicide and self-harm allows cells with clearly accessible ligature points?" she said. "Juveniles are the group most at risk of suicide and self-harm, which makes the use of that cell even more outrageous."

Kevin Henson, who was from Watford, Hertfordshire, was committed to Feltham on remand on 28 August, facing a charge of unlawful and malicious wounding.

The Prison Service had intended to take the media on a tour of Feltham today in response to the criticisms by Mr Thomas. The visit has been cancelled, out of respect for the teenager's grieving family.

The jail's Juvenile Centre has places for 180 youths aged 15 to 17. Mr Thomas feared especially for 100 other juveniles who have to be kept in parts of the jail meant for offenders aged between 18 and 21.

Eighteen months ago, government inspectors said conditions at Feltham were "appalling and unacceptable in a civilised society". Sir David Ramsbotham, chief inspector of prisons, said the report was "without doubt the most disturbing I have had to make during my three years". He found young prisoners were left in "dilapidated, dirty and cold" cells with no blankets.