AN inmate found hanging in prison had been put in the wrong cell, an inquest heard yesterday.

A doctor recommended that Thomas Duffield, 24, be put in a communal cell at Teesside's Holme House jail, because he was looking shaky from drug withdrawal.

Instead, he was placed in a single cell, where he was later found with a noose made from bedsheets round his neck and tied to the window bars, said Gordon Morrison, governor of HMP Wolds, Humberside, who carried out an investigation.

Mr Morrison recommended that tighter measures be taken to ensure that medical instructions were implemented at the Stockton prison.

Duffield had not given warders or fellow inmates any indication that he was feeling suicidal, and he had served prison sentences before.

Detective Sergeant John Green, of Cleveland CID, said inmates told him Duffield feared being parted from his wife, Emma Jane, of Harrogate Lane, Stockton.

Forensic tests showed traces of heroin and cannabis taken shortly before Duffield was locked up, Teesside Coroner Michael Sheffield was told.

News of Duffield's death was broken to his 20-year-old wife while she was on remand at Low Newton.

Her husband was dead on arrival at North Tees Hospital on January 9 last year, less than 24 hours after he was sent to jail.

The inquest, in Middlesbrough, is expected to hear evidence for four days before the jury returns a verdict.