AN INVESTIGATION has been launched after a Carlisle mum was found dead in her prison cell six days after she gave birth.

Friends of Michelle Barnes, 33, say they have been profoundly shocked by the tragedy at Low Newton prison in Durham, which has triggered an investigation by the national Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.

The mother of three was part way through a two-year jail sentence for allowing her home in Priory Road, off Wigton Road, to be used for dealing Class A drugs.

She was found hanged in her cell in December. Reports have suggested that she was taken off suicide watch shortly before she died.

It is not known whether Miss Barnes had been due to be transferred to a prison based mother and baby unit.

Speaking yesterday, one of her former friends, Paul Macmillan, 51, said he was deeply saddened and shocked to learn of her sudden death.

“She certainly had her demons,” said Mr Macmillan, who lives in Carlisle.

“But she was trying to get help. I’d known her for about 16 years and she was always good company.

“She loved her dog Harvey. Michelle was a very intelligent person, but she was also a vulnerable person.

“This is terrible news.”

Charles Campbell, 55, who said he was Miss Barnes’ partner, said she gave birth to her baby in December last year.

“I cannot understand why she was no longer on suicide watch,” he told a national newspaper.

“She was being watched the month before but not after having the baby... Something has gone wrong here and it needs to be highlighted.”

He said Miss Barnes became depressed after the breakdown of her marriage and she ended up “mixing with the wrong crowd”.

Mr Campbell added: “She was a middle-class kid who had taken quite a few knocks in life and got in with the wrong sort.

“I went to see her regularly and she was looking forward to having the baby and we had talked about raising her together and fighting the authorities to make sure we got custody. If we can stop this from happening to one more person then it will have been worth it.”

Miss Barnes’ death comes just a month after the Prime Minister announced a major reform across the prison system and a rethink of how it treats pregnant women and mothers and their babies.

Mr Cameron said he strongly believes prisons must offer a chance to change.

Currently, a woman who gives birth during a custodial sentence usually transferred to a prison mother-and-baby unit for an initial period.

A government review will look at whether female offenders with babies could be dealt with by special problem-solving courts, and housed in resettlement units.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “HMP Low Newton prisoner Michelle Barnes was found unresponsive in her cell.

“Staff immediately attempted resuscitation but she was pronounced dead shortly after.

“As with all deaths in custody, the independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will conduct an investigation.”

Miss Barnes was jailed in June last year after police raided two Carlisle properties, including her home in Priory Road. There was evidence that the houses were being used as a base for dealing heroin and crack cocaine.

She was in a relationship with one of the men involved in the plot, the court heard but her role was considered lesser.

Labour’s shadow justice secretary Lord Falconer said an estimated 200,000 children are affected by parental imprisonment.

He added: “It is right that we urgently look at the way the criminal justice system treats pregnant women and mothers with children.

“It is also right that we should look at alternatives to custody for low-level offenders.”

Last year there were 256 deaths in prisons in England and Wales – 89 of those were suicides.