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GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN: Sarah Reed

THE LONG-awaited inquest into the death of 32-year-old Sarah Reed will begin on July 4.

Reed was a mentally-vulnerable young woman who was found dead whilst on remand in Holloway prison in 2016. Her family and campaigners have raised serious concerns over her transferral from a mental health care unit to prison and the lack of treatment offered to her thereafter. Reed's death comes two years after a police officer, James Kiddie, was caught on camera punching her in the head and using excessive force to pin her face down to the ground.

Kiddie has since been sacked after colleagues reported his sickening behaviour.

A consortium including the Society of Black Lawyers has been fighting for justice in Reed's name since the news of her death broke.

Speaking to ITV after her assault in 2014, Reed said:

"I'm very frightened of people now... It's given me mental health problems and it's ruined my whole life.

"I was panicking so much when he was sat on my back because my lungs couldn't breathe. I turned round and I said to him 'I'm asthmatic if you don't get off my back, you're going to kill me by accident. He still has his knee in my neck and in my back. He didn't get off and I started to cry. I've got fractured ribs. I had to go to hospital to get stitches."

Information on the inquest and how people can support the campaign is outlined in the flyer below, which the organisers are inviting people to distribute:

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