Jails campaigner found dead

Prisons campaigner Pauline Campbell has been found dead in a graveyard close to the Shropshire border, advice group Inquest said today.

Mrs Campbell, from Malpas, near Whitchurch, became a member of the organisation after her daughter, Sarah, 18, died of a drug overdose at Styal Prison in 2003.

It is understood Mrs Campbell was found this morning close to her daughter's grave in the Oathills area of the village.

A spokeswoman for pressure group Inquest, which campaigns about deaths in custody, confirmed Mrs Campbell had died, although she could not confirm the circumstances.

A Cheshire Police spokeswoman said: "At 6.15am today a member of the public alerted police to a body which was found at the gates of Oathills cemetery in Malpas. We are investigating the circumstances."

The force said they were not yet in a position to identify the body, but said there did not appear to be any suspicious circumstances. Police officers cordoned off the churchyard in Malpas today as a search of the area was carried out.

Mrs Campbell has been a stalwart protester in recent years, staging demonstrations outside prisons across the UK.

Her protests outside jails where women had died led her to being arrested more than 15 times. She was due to address delegates at the international conference on Penal Abolition at King's College, London, in July.

Mrs Campbell marked the fifth anniversary of her daughter's death in January with a peaceful vigil outside Styal Prison, Wilmslow, Cheshire. At the event, Mrs Campbell, friends and family laid flowers and left condolences in her memory.

Sarah was just one day into a three-year jail sentence for the manslaughter of a 72-year-old Royal Air Force veteran when she died.

Mrs Campbell continually spoke out against the way she was treated as a grieving parent.