Transgender inmate who died in Leeds Prison was right to be held in male jail
Vikki Thompson was found dead in her cell at the prison in November 2015.
An inquest jury has concluded that it was right that a transgender prisoner who died at Leeds Prison was held in a male jail, but also found she was let down by a range of services as well as her family.
Vikki Thompson, 21, was found dead in her cell at the prison in November 2015.
An inquest into her death finished on Friday with a jury concluding that she did not intend to take her own life.
The foreman said: "Throughout her chaotic life, Vikki has been let down by various departments including the NHS, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust, the Prison Service and also by her family.'
"Although these departments were individually aware of Vikki's history, the overall coordination of her mental and health state were lacking in any form of organisational structure.
"During her last stay at HMP Leeds, the management of her treatment and mental state of mind were also lacking in professionalism and inadequate for an individual of such complex issues.''
He said: "On October 19, 2015, Vikki was remanded to HMP Leeds, a male prison, and we, the jury, feel this was the right one for Vikki.
"More attention should have been paid to Vikki as a transgender woman with a history from a previous stay in the prison.''
At the beginning of the two-week inquest in Wakefield, Miss Thompson's partner, Robert Steele, told the jury she did not want to be in a male jail and wrote to him saying: "I know I'm going to do something silly.''
The court was told she had repeatedly told prison and court escort staff that she would be "carried out in a box''.
But, in a statement read to the court, Miss Thompson's mother, Lisa Harrison, said her daughter did not say she had a problem being in a male prison.
The inquest was told that Miss Thompson, who was from Keighley, West Yorkshire, had identified as female since she was 10 years old but had never had any surgical or hormone treatment.
The coroner said that she did not have a Gender Recognition Certificate establishing her female identity so she was sent to a male prison.
The jury heard about the extensive drug, alcohol, mental health and other problems Miss Thompson had experienced in her life.
At Leeds Prison, she was subjected to hourly checks but not put on the vulnerable prison wing to begin with as staff feared she would be in danger from sex offenders.
She was eventually moved to the vulnerable prisoners' wing at her own request.
She was found dead in her cell on November 13 2015 with a ligature around her neck.