A SEX offender found hanging in his prison cell was plagued by guilt and self loathing, an inquest has heard.

Former carer Michael Joseph Mazzetti, from County Durham, was found dead in HMP Northumberland at 7.45am on September 1, 2014.

The 45-year-old was serving an eight year sentence after pleading guilty to eight counts of physical and sexual assault on three vulnerable adults in his care.

His victims did not have the mental capacity to consent to or report his behaviour, and the offences only came to light when a guilt-racked Mazzetti handed himself in to police in December 2013.

At an inquest into his death in Berwick-upon-Tweed Town Hall yesterday, the jury heard Mazzetti’s feelings of guilt towards his victims and his own family had continued to haunt him in prison.

Staff said he was struggling to adjust to prison life and was full of “self-loathing”, referring to himself as a failure, emotionally inferior and undeserving of the help he was receiving.

But the jury and coroner Tony Brown also heard of Mazzetti’s determination to seek help and address these feelings, along with his low self-esteem and abuse of drugs and alcohol.

They also learned of Mazzetti’s enthusiasm for his job at the prison’s tailors and his popularity with other inmates.

Offender supervisor Kevin Henderson said: “He appeared to be pleased and relieved that we were trying to put things in place to address his offending. He wanted to know why he had behaved in that manner.

“He was very motivated and keen to do the programmes that had been identified for him.”

Philip Howe, an experienced community psychiatric nurse, held regular sessions with Mazzetti after he was moved to HMP Northumberland in Acklington from Durham Prison in June 2013.

He said Mazzetti was experiencing low mood and anxiety but this had been assessed as low-risk during assessments. He also did not express any thoughts of self-harm or taking his own life while in prison.

When asked whether Mazzetti should have been on an Assessment Care in Custody and Teamwork programme (ACCT), which sees those at risk of self-harm receive additional help and hourly cell checks overnight, Mr Howe said this was not considered necessary while the prisoner continued to engage with the mental health team.

He said Mazzetti was making “slow and steady progress,” adding:

“His death was a saddening and shocking event. He was at the bottom of the risk assessment table. It’s not something you could have predicted in a million years.”

The inquest continues.