Criminal

Simon Willerton's suicide in 1990 brought to six the number of young prisoners who hanged themselves in British prisons in just over six months. It prompted a public debate over conditions in remand prisons and Armley in particular, where overcrowding had reached such a level that prison officers refused to admit any new inmates. Simon faced a burglary charge over the theft of a hot-water bottle from an unoccupied flat. Less a hardened criminal than an immature, gawky teenager who never fitted in, Simon's tragic death inspired writer Vincent O'Connell and director Corin Campbell-Hill to tell his story.