Second transgender woman in a month found dead in all-male prison
A TRANSGENDER woman who had been serving her sentence at an all-male prison has been found dead.
Joanne Latham was an inmate serving life at HMP Woodhill, Milton Keynes
Joanne Latham, 38, was found by a prison officer hanging in her cell last Friday.
She was serving life at HMP Woodhill, in Milton Keynes, for three attempted murders.
It is the second such incident involving transgender women serving time in male prisons.
Last month, Vikki Thompson, 21, also committed suicide after being ordered to serve her 12-month jail sentence at a male institution in Leeds.
Although Ms Thompson had been living as a woman since her early teens, she had not undergone gender reassignment surgery.
In October, Tara Hudson, a transgender woman who was originally told to serve her sentence at an all-male prison, was moved to a women's prison after more than 150,000 people signed a petition in support of the move.
Ms Latham was found hanging in her cell in the early hours of Friday morning
According to prison staff who went to check on Ms Latham in the early hours of Friday, the door to her cell had been barricaded.
As with all deaths in custody there will be an investigation by the independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman
A Prison Service report said: "After receiving no response from her, staff requested permission to enter the cell."
The report also said prison staff checked on Ms Latham at 04.02 GMT. Paramedics arrived at 05.40. She was pronounced dead at 06.00.
Ms Latham planned to undergo gender reassignment surgery.
A clause in the Ministry of Justice prison guidelines says: "Difficulty accommodating someone living in their acquired gender will not normally and on its own constitute grounds for transferring a prisoner to another establishment."
Prisons minister Andrew Selous was questioned in parliament over the tragic death of Ms Latham
The prisons minister Andrew Selous was questioned in parliament over Ms Latham's tragic death.
He said the government was currently "reviewing prison service instruction."
The Ministry of Justice told express.co.uk an investigation will now commence into Ms Latham's death.
"As with all deaths in custody there will be an investigation by the independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman."