A CAMPAIGN group has spoken out about the difficulties facing families whose children have been locked up.

Following the start of the inquest into the death of Burnley teen Adam Rickwood, Lucy Gampell, director of Action for Prisoners' Families, said thousands of vulnerable young sters lose their freedom every year, with many of them being kept in remote locations.

She said: "Families face gruelling and expensive journeys and many simply cannot visit as often as they would like, denying their children of potentially life-saving support.

"Children in custody are likely to have mental health problems and face severe social exclusion."

She said children and their families need support and guidance to rebuild their lives, but incarceration makes it almost inevitable that more frightened and disturbed young people will suffer. Adam, of Harold Street, 14, was the youngest person to die in custody in the UK. He was found dead just after midnight on August 9, 2004. He had been hanged with his shoelaces.

Adam was being detained at the privately run Hassockfield Centre, near Consett, County Durham, on remand for an alleged offence of wounding.

Adam's mum Carol Pounder told the jury inquest, which is currently ongoing in County Durham, that Adam was upset because he had been moved 150 miles away from his family and she had warned staff that he was at risk of suicide.

In a letter to his mother on July 25 he said: "I need to be at home with you.

"I can just about last till my court date but it is not right.

"I will try to kill myself and I will succeed this time."

Ms Gampell said: "The testimony of Adam Rickwood's mother at her son's inquest is a poignant reminder of the distress faced by thousands of families separated from their children through incarceration."

The inquest into Adam's death will continue this week and is expected to last three weeks.