A man accused of attacking his mother has been found hanged in a prison cell on the day of her funeral.

Barry Keat, 59, was being held on remand accused of assaulting his elderly Keighley mother, Minnie Keat, 89, shortly before her death.

He was found hanging in his cell at Armley Jail, Leeds, at 2.15pm on Tuesday – the day of her funeral at The Knowle in Keighley.

Prison staff attempted to resuscitate him and paramedics attended but he was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

It is understood Keat had been refused permission to attend the funeral.

The Prison Service said yesterday that as with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman would conduct an investigation into Keat’s death.

Joanne Felgate, who was formerly Mrs Keat’s carer, said she had found out about his death at his mother’s funeral. She said: “We would have liked to have seen justice in court.”

She added that Keat, a single man, had lived with his mother and received a carer’s allowance. She said she understood he had been denied permission to attend his mother’s funeral.

A fortnight ago Bradford Crown Court heard that Keat, of Central Avenue, Bracken Bank, Keighley, had been initially charged with causing grievous bodily harm to his mother but the charge had been dropped and he now faced a single accusation of assault causing actual bodily harm.

His case was due to be heard again this week at Bradford Crown Court.

Care workers found badly-injured Mrs Keat at her home in Central Avenue in July.

The pensioner was taken to Airedale Hospital and had a CT scan of her head and neck. Her injuries were consistent with abuse and the police were called.

An inquest heard how Mrs Keat had been in a comatose state in hospital but had become partly conscious and made comments that were recorded by nursing staff.

Mrs Keat’s condition deteriorated and she died a few days later. The inquest into her death was adjourned last week pending the completion of criminal proceedings.

e-mail: newsdesk @telegraphandargus.co.uk