MY thanks to the Redditch Advertiser (April 14) for covering the demonstration held outside Brockhill Prison which was a public protest following the death there on April 3 of Sheena Kotecha, 22.

My comment that the Prison Service should not be sending more and more women, many of whom are mothers, into already overcrowded prisons when they have not committed violent offences is one the Government needs to take on board before the shocking death toll rises still further.

Sarah Elizabeth Campbell, 18 - my late daughter - died in January 2003 while at Styal Prison, Cheshire, during a 12-month period in which six women died at that particular prison.

Since your article was published, a further three women inmates have died in British jails, which means that a total of 18 women prisoners have died (including Ms Kotecha) since my daughter's death in January 2003.

My daughter's inquest, with a jury, will not be held until January 2005, which is two years after her death.

As a grieving mother, I find this completely unacceptable.

I fail to understand the Prison Service spokesperson's comments at the end of your report: "We cannot comment on specific issues relating to deaths in custody at Styal because an investigation into these deaths, including that of Sarah Campbell, is ongoing."

The Prisons Ombudsman, Stephen Shaw, was sent into Styal Prison last year following the sixth death in August 2003 to conduct an investigation.

His report was completed and handed to the Home Office in October 2003 but remains unpublished.

It is in the public interest the full report is put in the public domain as soon as possible. It should not be allowed to sit on a minister's desk for months on end gathering dust.

The Prison Service spokesperson further commented that "deaths in custody are of grave concern to the service and all are investigated by a governor from another prison".

This information is out of date. Since April 1, 2004, the investigation of prison deaths has been handed over to the Prisons Ombudsman and these deaths are no longer investigated by a governor from another prison.

Your report stated my daughter was found dead a day after arriving at Styal Prison and that she committed suicide, which is incorrect.

On January 18, 2003, Sarah was taken from the prison to a Manchester hospital, unconscious.

She died several hours later without regaining consciousness and the pathologist's report has given the cause of death as "toxic levels of Dothiepin".

The Prison Service report into Sarah's death, currently with my London solicitor, contains some bizarre details which are troubling, and require further explanation.

I am deeply concerned about the contents of the report and there are a number of unanswered questions which will need to be dealt with in full at the inquest.

Mrs PAULINE B CAMPBELL

Malpas

Cheshire