A prisoner hanged himself with a pair of socks while serving an eight-year sentence at Bullingdon Prison.

Philip Towns, 51, of Lilford Place, Kettering, was found hanged in his prison cell on the morning of March 4, 1996, an Oxford inquest heard.

The jury was told how Mr Towns's body was discovered dangling from the cell wardrobe at the prison near Bicester. A chair was found next to his body.

Dr Robert Chapman, a forensic specialist from St George's Hospital, London, said marks were discovered around his neck.

He said that they were consistent with some form of ligature.

"I concluded that his death was consistent with hanging."

The prison's night patrolman Trevor Smethurst, told the inquest he saw Mr Towns lying in his bed at around 9pm the night before and concluded that everything was normal.

But he added: "At 7am the following morning, I saw Mr Towns hanging from the back of the cupboard."

Senior prison officer Paul Wiltshire, now working at a prison in Devizes, added: "There was a pair of socks holding his weight.

"There was a chair next to his body." Towns' wife, Denise Towns, from Kettering, said she saw her husband a week before his death, adding: "He seemed to be under a lot of pressure.

"He just wanted to come home."

Dr Isobelle Llewellyn, a GP who works within the prison system, said she saw Mr Towns on February 27.

She said: "He was in good spirits. He was not suicidal.

"He wanted to change for the sake of his wife and his children."

David Robinson, the prison governor, said all the provisions to deal with 'at risk' prisoners were in place at the time of his death.

The jury returned a verdict that Mr Towns took his own life.

An inquest jury on Wednesday recorded a similar verdict on another Bullingdon prisoner, Gary Bolton, who bled to death after slashing his wrist with a razor blade.

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