News

The father of a girl who committed suicide in New Hall prison last November has called for people with mental health problems not to be placed in prisons.

Pledging his support for Community Care's "Back on Track" campaign to reduce the number of young people in custody, Peter Blanksby said that, if his daughter Petra had not been placed in custody, she would be alive today.

Petra, who had been in the care system from the age of nine and self-harming since the age of 13, was remanded in prison after being charged with arson with intent for trying to kill herself by setting alight the bungalow she was living in.

During the 130 days she spent in prison, Petra self-harmed on 92 occasions before killing herself last November.

- To support Community Care's campaign go to www.communitycare.co.uk/backontrack