Woman found dead in prison cell

The Prisons Ombudsman will investigate the death

A woman has been found hanged in her prison cell the day after she was jailed for nine years.

Sheena Kotecha, 22, from Belgrave, Staffs, was found hanged at Brockhill Prison, Redditch, at 0940 BST on Saturday.

On Friday Kotecha was sentenced at Leicester Crown Court for armed robbery.

Kotecha and her boyfriend had robbed a Securicor van outside a supermarket using an imitation firearm.

Secret relationship

The jury heard Kotecha acted as the getaway driver while Daniel Wright, 23, from Wigston, Leicestershire, confronted a Securicor guard and pointed a fake pistol at his head.

Wright made off with £24,000 in cash and cheques emptied from a banking machine.

Both denied robbery and possessing an imitation firearm.

The court heard the pair had kept their relationship secret from fellow workers at a British Gas call centre in Leicester.

Prisons ombudsman

Recorder Phillip Matthews told them: "There's some evidence in the form of text messages that you had dreams of running away together and it may be that which gave substance to that dream - to make it a reality - by planning this robbery."

The Prison Service said on Sunday that Kotecha was not considered a vulnerable prisoner and was not on suicide watch.

Under a new system, introduced on 1 April, an investigation into the death will be carried out by the Prisons Ombudsman.

The coroner has been informed.