A Keighley teenager who thought he might be HIV positive, hung himself in Doncaster Prison three days after being locked up for armed robbery.

Warehouseman Mark Hutton was found in July hanging from a window handle at the prison, known as Doncatraz because it is surrounded by water.

He was on remand after raiding a card shop in Bingley at knife point and snatching £50 to feed his drug habit.

Doncaster Coroner, Stanley Hooper, who this week is hearing evidence about four deaths at the prison last year, recorded a verdict of suicide.

Doncaster, a private prison, has come under fire for the number of inmates taking their own lives since it opened in 1994. Five prisoners died in the prison last year, making it among the top three worst jails.

Mr Hooper heard that at the time of Mark's death, he was undergoing a detoxification programme. He had also requested an HIV test because he had used shared needles.

The inquest heard the course seemed to be working and Mark was in good spirits with the prison staff and other inmates.

Mark's sister Sharon Cook of Keighley told the inquest: "He shared needles and thought he might be HIV positive. In 1997 when he was detained in Wetherby he asked for tests but was too scared to go for results. He was never given counselling or advice.

"When he was at Doncaster, he again raised the question of a test but was never taken."

A prison spokesman said that Mark showed no suicidal tendencies, was responding well to his treatment and would have been tested for HIV after the treatment ended.

The hearing was told that Mark was given supervised doses of medicines each day, but was left without treatment for 11 hours at night.

After the hearing Ruth Bundy, representing the family, questioned the length of time he was left without medication during the night.

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