A verdict of suicide was recorded at the inquest

The mother of a woman found hanged at a jail has started a legal battle for a new investigation into her daughter's death.

Sheena Creamer, 22, from Rotherham, died while in New Hall Prison, near Wakefield.

A verdict of suicide was entered by a jury after an inquest conducted by the West Yorkshire coroner in October 2001.

But Miss Creamer's mother Helen Sacker has taken the case to the Court of Appeal, claiming the Prison Service was guilty of neglect.

The suicide verdict was first challenged, and dismissed, in December 2001.

Self-harm history

Miss Sacker voiced concerns that the coroner had refused to allow the jury to consider whether Miss Creamer's death had been contributed to by neglect.

The original inquest heard Miss Creamer hanged herself from the bars of her prison cell in August 2000, using a plastic privacy curtain.

The prison officer in charge of Miss Creamer said she had vowed "to do herself in".

Stephen Cragg, representing Mrs Sacker, said her daughter had a "history of self-harm and there were allegations that her placement in a cell by herself with a 'well-known' ligature had contributed to her death".

But James Findlay, representing the coroner, said the challenge to the inquest verdict "lacked merit".

The hearing continues.