Scholes case will go to Europe if needed

The mother of a 16-year-old boy who died in custody says she will take her fight for a public inquiry into his death to European courts if her latest bid in the Court of Appeal fails.

Yvonne Scholes, whose son Joseph died after hanging himself in Stoke Heath Young Offender Institution in 2002, may have to wait three more months to find out whether the appeal judges will allow an inquiry.

After a two-day appeal hearing last week over the government’s refusal to hold an inquiry into the death, judges said a ruling would be unlikely before October.

After the hearing, Yvonne Scholes told Community Care she would take the case to the House of Lords and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg if the appeal court supported the government’s decision.