Convicted Transgender Rapist has been found dead in her cell at HMP Parkhurst
A transgender woman has been found dead in her cell in an all-male prison. Convicted rapist Martin Eatough was discovered in her cell at Parkhurst jail, Isle of Wight. Eatough, 35, also known as Jade, was taking hormone replacements as the first stage of gender reassignment. She was found during a routine check at 5am in her cell on August 19. Eatough, is the fourth transgender prisoner to kill herself in a male jail in the last couple of years. A source said: “She was not on a suicide watch and was living normally. “An officer checked her but got no response, entered the cell and found her.” Paramedics also tried resuscitation but she was declared dead at 5.45am. Eatough was not on a ACCT (suicide supervision) at the time of her death. She had been living as a woman, but had not yet had gender reassignment surgery. The death follows in the wake of criticism of the Prison Service after a series of suicides by transgender inmates. In November 2015, Joanne Latham was discovered hanging in her cell at high security Woodhill prison in Milton Keynes. A month earlier, transgender Vikki Thompson, 21, committed suicide in HMP Leeds. Eatough was serving a life sentence after committing two sex attacks in the same night. He followed a 19-year-old girl in the centre of Blackburn in June 2005. Eatough, of Osaldtwistle, indecently assaulted her on her doorstep. Less than two hours later he raped a 15-year-old near Blackburn town centre. Judge Slinger told Eatough that the first attack might have been much worse and the second victim had been terrified and humiliated, adding that there was a “real and significant risk or further very serious offences being committed by you”. Prisoners are normally held in the prison of their gender unless they have a ‘gender recognition certificate’ that states otherwise. A Prison Service spokesperson said: “HMP Parkhurst prisoner Jade Eatough died in custody on Saturday 19 August 2017. “As with all deaths in custody there will be an independent investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.” If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article you can freephone the Samaritans on 116123
