Prisoner found dead in cell after coming out of group suicide pact

A PRISONER was found dead in her cell just days after she came out of a suicide pact with three other transgender inmates, an inquest has been told.

Jenny Swift, 49, inset, was found hanging in a cell at Doncaster Prison – a jail for men – in December last year, a jury at Doncaster Coroner’s Court was told.

Another transgender prisoner, Paris Clarke, told the jury how the four transgender prisoners at the jail had entered into a pact to kill themselves.

But, she said, she and Jenny and had decided to come out of the pact after a few days.

Ms Clarke said her friend Ms Swift seemed happy on the evening before she was found dead and showed no inkling she was going to take her own life. The prisoner said: “Some of us were being bullied by members of staff. And no-one was listening. A couple of us made a pact of suicide.” She agreed with Barney Branston, representing Serco – the firm which operates the prison – that the pair pulled out of the pact together because it “was not a brilliant idea, it solves nothing, does nothing”. “I had a chat with her and she pulled out with me,” she told the court.

Ms Clarke, who acted as a diversity rep in the privately run prison, said her friend liked to play loud music and was dancing on the evening before she was found dead.

She said she had no idea Ms Swift would want to kill herself.

She said: “No clue at all. We were very close. I never got any inkling or anything that she was going to take her own life.”

Ms Clarke was asked about her friend’s mood after she was told she would be facing a murder charge instead of attempted murder after a man died.

“She was really remorseful,” she said.

Ms Clarke said her friend said: “What have I done, I can’t believe I’ve done this.”

But the prisoner, who gave evidence flanked by guards, said Ms Swift was angry with herself but did not seem to think that “life was not worth living”.

She agreed that her friend was planning life after her sentence and wanted a husband.

The inquest continues.