"IT'S too late for Rebecca." Those were the words of heartbroken York mum Janet Wade whose 22-year-old daughter was found hanged in her cell, less than 48 hours after she started a prison sentence.

An inquest jury has criticised Low Newton Prison, near Durham, for placing Rebecca Turner in isolation after she voiced fears about another woman inmate. The prison also came under fire for not offering her any help in coming off drugs, even though heroin addict Rebecca had been on a methadone programme.

The Prison Service said since her death the jail had set up a dedicated detox unit. But Janet said the changes had come too late for her daughter, adding: "I believe the prison is to blame for her death."

Despite the jury's suicide verdict, Rebecca's family said they believed her death was a "cry for help".

Prison failed our Rebecca

A YOUNG mother-of-two had been behind bars for less than 48 hours when she was found hanged in her cell.

Heroin addict Rebecca Louise Turner was on a methadone treatment programme when she was jailed for two years and three months for drug offences.

But the prison offered her no help once inside.

Officers in the induction wing locked her up to protect her from a prisoner she was frightened of.

Now a jury has criticised Low Newton Prison, near Durham, for failing to deal with Rebecca "appropriately", and ruled that this "contributed in a significant way to her death".

The prison's actions "served to negatively effect Rebecca's already fragile state of mind", it ruled.

Rebecca's family, of Barstow Avenue, York, have welcomed the findings, following a three-day inquest.

The jurors also ruled that Rebecca took her own life - but her family believe her death was "a cry for help" which went tragically wrong.

Her mother, Janet Wade, said: "I think the prison is to blame for her death. Rebecca was on a methadone programme when she went away. The prison didn't even contact Compass (a service which tackles drug abuse, and had been helping Rebecca).

"She went in on Monday teatime and phoned me that night, really upset about another woman there who she knew from York. She told the prison her fears. She was frightened and tearful."

A Prison Service spokesman said: "Since this tragic incident we now have a dedicated detox unit using methadone as the main detoxification drug, and any person who may be locked in their cell for any reason will be fully risk assessed for their ability to cope with that."

But Janet said: "I was pleased with the verdict. I know Low Newton Prison have made these changes to the detox regime, but it's too late for Rebecca."

Rebecca who lived on Newborough Street, York, at the time of her drug offences, then moved in with her mother on Barstow Avenue.

She died in July 2004. Two years on, her family now hopes to lay her memory to rest properly.

"It is a waiting game. The inquest took so long to happen," said Janet. "I still have her ashes. Now we can bury her. I couldn't do it before the inquest."

Rebecca's brother, Simon, 25, is convinced her final act was a desperate one, done in the hope that a prison officer would find her in time and recognise her fears were real.

"Rebecca went to court, packed, expecting to go to prison. She wouldn't have turned up in court if she was the sort of person who would kill herself."

He said she was on drugs for two years, first cannabis then heroin, but was "ready to come clean".

"She was going to prison to sort her life out," he said.

Her sister, Claire, said Rebecca had been making future plans.

"That's why her death was such a big shock. The prison shouldn't have confined her to her cell. They should have protected her from bullying."

Rebecca's daughter, Lauren, seven, now lives with her father. Her son Jack, five, has been adopted.

Rebecca attended St Lawrence's Primary School and Archbishop Holgate's School, and was the second youngest of five children - Scott, 16, Simon, 25, Claire, 28, and Lee, 30.

Drug user was 'doorkeeper' for Jamaican gangsters

REBECCA Turner and her boyfriend Wayne Coxon acted as "doorkeepers" for gun-toting Jamaican gangsters, who spread their £1.7million drug dealing ring to York.

The five-man gang was captured in a major police operation in March 2004, and sentenced to a combined total of 30 years in prison, after selling crack cocaine in York and Leeds.

They had sold thousands of pounds-worth of the drug from a terraced home in Newborough Street, Clifton, which was rented by Coxon.

While police watched the property they saw almost 200 people visit in less than a week, and a raid found knives, cling film and pipes with traces of cocaine on them.

Rebecca's brother, Simon, 25, said she became addicted to heroin after drug users started using her Newborough Street home.

"People on drugs went round to her house and took advantage of a young girl on her own. Because she had seen drug-taking that often she tried it and got hooked.

"She was the doorkeeper for the Jamaican gang," he said. "They took over her home. It got to the stage where she didn't have a choice. Her house was terrorised."

Her sister, Claire, said: "She even had to knock on her own door."

Ainsley Rease admitted selling drugs from Newborough Street - the gang's outpost in York. Described as a "shopkeeper" for York addicts, he is serving seven years for his role in selling drugs from the house in Newborough Street, and for continuing to serve customers from Leeds crack dens while on bail.

Gang ringleader, Glenford Adams, of Leeds, was sentenced to 12 years in prison. The court heard the gay hairdresser's life had spiralled into drugs and crime since he learned he was HIV positive.

Adams' "right hand man", Carlton Ford received a four-year jail term, while "lieutenants" Andrew Lyttle, 27, and Syddon Dayes, 19, were sentenced to four and three years respectively.

Updated: 10:49 Monday, May 15, 2006