A prisoner was found dead in a “safe cell” hours after attempting to kill himself, an inquest heard today.

Father-of-eight Danny Rooney was moved to the cell at Bullingdon Prison after being found with a noose around his neck, Oxford Coroner’s Court heard.

But the 38-year-old, who was waiting to be sentenced for burglary, was found unconscious in the cell later the same evening on September 26, 2006.

Mr Rooney’s widow Ann said her husband, also known as John Hughes, was a devout Catholic who opposed suicide and had seemed fine in the days before his death.

She said: “He had very strong feelings against anyone that committed suicide. He saw it as a mortal sin against the almighty God.”

Mrs Rooney told the jury her husband, a paver from Hollow Way, Cowley, Oxford, had told her he might “try to be mad” because he thought it would lessen his sentence.

Prison medical officer Dr Jacek Piatek said Mr Rooney, a member of the travelling community, had problems with alcohol and depression when he was admitted to the jail two weeks before his death, but was not deemed to be at risk of suicide or self-harm.

But he added Mr Rooney was undergoing an alcohol detoxification programme which could have been a risk factor for suicide.

Pc Kerry Boyle, of Thames Valley Police, was called to Mr Rooney’s 12ft by 5ft cell in the Blackthorn wing of Bullingdon Prison, near Bicester, at about 9.40pm on the night he died.

She said: “We were told that the gentleman had attempted suicide earlier on in the evening and that a noose had been discovered by prison staff. He had then been moved to a safe cell.”

Referring to the safe cell, Det Insp Steve Duffy, based at Banbury Police Station, said: “It is a particular cell where the furniture is fixed or cast.

“There are very few rough edges and there are minimal places where people can put ligatures.”

He told the court lawyers believed Mr Rooney would be given a sentence of between 18 months and two years, but Mr Rooney had thought it would be substantially longer.

He added the three-month police investigation into the death — which saw three prison officers interviewed under caution — had found no suspicious circumstances.

Patrick Roche, representing Mr Rooney’s family, asked Mr Duffy whether police had looked into why the safe cell included fittings which could be used to hang a noose.

He said: “Susan Saunders, the then governor, says she finds it hard to understand why any member of staff would have found it appropriate to install a ligature point in a safer cell and why that error was not picked up immediately by others.”

Mr Roche added the jury would hear the fitting was not checked previously to see whether it was safe. The inquest, which is expected to last two weeks, continues.

esimmonds@oxfordmail.co.uk