THE first lecture in memory of prison reform campaigner Pauline Campbell took place at the Bluecoat, in Liverpool last night, as part of the Chapter & Verse literature festival.

Mrs Campbell’s 18-year-old daughter, Sarah, died of a drug overdose at Cheshire’s Styal prison in January, 2003, the third of six women to die at the jail in 12 months.

The 60-year-old, from Whitchurch, Shropshire, went on to become a vociferous campaigner for prison reform and was arrested 15 times for protesting outside jails across the country where women inmates had died of apparent suicide.

After her death in May, the memorial lecture was set up to honour her work and to address the issues she highlighted.

Deborah Coles, co-director of Inquest, a charity that provides free advice to families with a particular focus on deaths in custody, said before last night’s lecture: “As a result of her daughter’s death, Pauline Campbell became a vociferous, tireless campaigner in trying to expose the continuing death toll in women’s prisons.

“It’s a brilliant opportunity to use a literary festival to raise awareness of these issues to a new audience.”