AN inquest will open today into the death of a 14-year-old who became the youngest person in the country to die while in custody.
Adam Rickwood was found hanged in his room at the Hassockfield Centre, in Consett, County Durham, in the early hours of Sunday.
The national Youth Justice Board has launched an investigation into the death, which police are not treating as suspicious.
The inquest comes as calls mount for a public inquiry into the treatment of young people by the criminal justice system.
The campaign group Inquest, which monitors custodial deaths, has backed Adam's family and called for a full independent investigation into procedures at the privately run institution.
Magistrates had remanded the teenager, from Lancashire, to the centre for an alleged breach of bail conditions pending his trial on a charge of wounding.
He is the second boy under 16 to die in the youth justice system this year.
The centre is run by Medomsley Training Services Limited, part of the Premier Custodial Group, on behalf of the Youth Justice Board. It caters for 43 teenagers aged 14 to 17.
No family members will be present at the hearing, which will be at Durham's County Hall.
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