THE criminal justice system came under attack last night after a 15-year-old boy from St Helens was found hanged in his cell.

Liam McManus was discovered by staff at Lancaster Farms Youth Offender Institution in Lancashire at 7.10am.

Prison officers tried to resuscitate him and an ambulance was called, but he was pronounced dead at 7.45am.

He had been in custody there since November 8 after being jailed for one month and 14 days for breaching a supervision order.

Inquest, a campaign organisation which helps the families of people who die in custody, described his death as “deeply shocking”.

Deborah Coles, co-director of Inquest, said: “The responsibility for this death rests with a criminal justice system that sends a child to prison for one month and 14 days.

“This death raises issues that go beyond the prison walls and to the heart of society’s collective respon- sibility for tolerating a system that sends children into institutions that cannot keep them safe.”

Inquest said the Govern- ment should hold a public inquiry into the juvenile justice system, involving the authorities and the families of those who have died in custody.

The organisation is currently supporting the family of Gareth Price, 16, found hanging in Lancaster Farms in January 2005.

The inquest into his death opened on November 5, 2007, at Lancaster Shire Hall.

The last under-18 death in a Prison Service establishment was Sam Elphick, 17, who died in Hindley YOI near Wigan on September 15, 2005.

Liam is the 30th child and the fifth 15-year-old to have died in custody since 1990.

He was in a single cell but had not been identified as being at risk of self-harm, according to the Prison Service.

A Prison Service spokes- person said: “Every death in prison is a terrible tragedy affecting families, staff and other prisoners.

“Our deepest sympathies are with Liam’s family and friends.

“As with all deaths in custody, this will be investigated by the Prison and Probation