THE family of a young Swindon woman who hung herself in Eastwood Park Prison said they felt "elated, tearful and relieved" after an inquest into her death found there had been a "gross failure" at the jail to provide basic medical attention.

Immediately after the verdict on Suzy Renicks' death, her father Daniel, 49, of Raleigh Avenue, Walcot, said: "This is the verdict we were all hoping for and I feel a mixture of relief, elation and closure.

"This has been the worst thing I have ever been through in my life the verdict shows there was neglect on the part of the prison service, which is what I have been saying from day one.

"For the past 18 months it has been all I could think about and now this gives me the strength to try and get on with my life."

Mr Renicks also said that he would be seeking legal advice on the matter.

The 23-year-old recovering drug addict was found hanging by her neck from a length of ripped bed linen on November 4, 2001, just 24 hours after warning staff she would "top herself" if left alone.

It had been her second attempt to end her life, the first happened just two days earlier.

And staff were said to have been alarmed by her mental state on arrival at the prison. Special measures were ordered to protect Ms Renicks from self-harm.

But they failed to stop the former heroin addict from attaching the linen ligature around her neck and hanging herself from a door.

She was discovered by a prison officer and rushed to Frenchay Hospital where she died four days later.

At an inquest in Bristol yesterday, a jury returned a unanimous verdict of "suicide contributed to be neglect," defined by assistant deputy coroner Fiona Elder as "a gross failure to provide basic medical attention".

Ms Renicks hung herself just three days after she was arrested in Swindon for an alleged assault.

Ms Renicks has left a boy, six-year-old Kieran who has since been adopted.

A spokeswoman from the Prison Service declined to comment on the case, saying: "Given that we have only just received the verdict, it would be inappropriate for us to comment."