Inquest underway on 18-year-old found dead in her prison cell
Video report by Anna Youssef
A teenage inmate found dead in her cell "seemed like a lost soul" during her first time in an adult prison, her mother told an inquest.
Annelise Sanderson was 18 when she died at HMP Styal in Wilmslow, Cheshire, in December, 2020. She was the youngest person to have died in a women's prison for 20 years.
Annelise was arrested in June 2020, shortly after turning 18. She'd been seen trying to harm herself at a petrol station and had attacked some emergency workers when they'd tried to intervene.
Annelise was subsequently sentenced to 52 weeks and sent to HMP Styal.
Cheshire Coroner's Court heard a safety plan was put in place for her three days into her custodial term, when she was identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm.
The plan was closed eight days later for Annelise, who had tried to take her life on several occasions- the first time when she was only nine, the court was told.
In a statement, her mother, Angela Gray, said she was "worried" when she spoke to her in the first few days of her sentence.
She said: "She was depressed. She seemed like a lost soul.
"She said she didn't know who she was, where she was or what she was doing there. She was scared.
"I was at the time, and remain, concerned that she went into prison at all without first receiving any proper mental health care treatment."
Annelise was looking forward to coming home before Christmas but on December 11 had four weeks added to her sentence for an additional matter, she said.
Giving evidence, mental health nurse Lauren Shaughnessy said Annelise engaged well" in a meeting on December 17 and was in a "humorous manner".
Annelise spoke about her release date postponement and said "it is what it is and I just have to get on with it," the court heard.
Area Coroner for Cheshire, Victoria Davies, asked Ms Shaughnessy: "Were you surprised or shocked when you heard the news?"
Ms Shaughnessy replied: "Very".
The hearing in Warrington is listed for five days.