Teenage girl dies at women’s prison

Annelise Sanderson, 18, died at HMP Styal on Tuesday

A teenage girl has died at a women’s prison in Cheshire, prompting an investigation.

Annelise Sanderson died at HMP Styal, in Wilmslow, on Tuesday, the Ministry of Justice confirmed.

The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has been informed and will be investigating the incident.

A Prison Service spokesperson confirmed Ms Sanderson’s death, adding: “Our condolences are with her family and friends at this difficult time.”

The latest inspection report into HMP Styal, a prison and young offenders institution for women aged 18 and over, revealed that there had been three inmate deaths in the facility last year. all of whom had recently arrived to custody.

The jail is currently being investigated following the death of a baby there last year.  Earlier this year, another baby died at HMP Styal after a woman complained of severe pain and was reportedly refused medical care until she was about to deliver.

It comes after the government was accused of a “glaring failure” to act on deaths of women in custody as figures showed almost 100 female inmates had died in just over a decade.

More than 10 years on from the Corston Report, which outlined the need for a more holistic and integrated approach to vulnerable women in the criminal justice system, there has been “little systemic change” as women “continue to die” in custody, according to a report by charity Inquest.

Figures have shown women are disproportionately hit with prison sentences of less than one month, leading campaigners to condemn the “ridiculous overuse” of incarceration for minor offences.