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Sad father bids for law change
A CHESTERFIELD dad is gearing up for a meeting with MPs next month to discuss the death of his troubled daughter.
Peter Blanksby's 19-year-old daughter Petra died in hospital days after strangling herself in her cell in New Hall Prison, Wakefield.
An inquest into her death heard Petra harmed herself at least 90 times over the 130 days she spent in custody before tying a ligature around her neck.
She was on remand for arson with intent to endanger life after setting fire to her home in another attempt at self-harming following years of abuse as a child in care.
Her father believes someone with her mental health problems should never have been in prison, and is now calling for changes to the law.
A jury in the inquest into Petra's death returned a narrative verdict.
They found "prison was not an appropriate place" in view of her condition and said "there appears to be no infrastructure in the Forensic Mental Health Service" for people with her problems.
Petra's father, of Wythburn Road, Newbold, said: "Petra was crying out for help.
"Recommendations have been made but nothing's been done and until MPs start talking about it then other people will continue to die."
Petra's twin sister Katie, now 23, is to discuss the tragedy in Parliament next month as part of her fight for improvements to the treatment of people with similar mental health problems.
"They need to invest and build proper facilities for people with mental health problems," she said.
"They should be in appropriate facilities so they can get into therapy and come out a different person and be able to lead a normal life.
"Lots of people like Petra are in prison at the moment and shouldn't be."
The Blanksby family's barrister Leslie Thomas said: "This was a needless death. If the system ever let someone down it was this case.
"As one prison officer said during the inquest, 'Petra was a death in custody waiting to happen' and I couldn't agree more. If prison officers can see this it begs the question why was this vulnerable young woman ever imprisoned in the first place."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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