THE mother of Burnley teenager Adam Rickwood - the youngest person to die in custody in Britain - has won a legal review of the inquest into his death.

Carol Pounder was at London’s High Court to hear judge Mr Justice King rule that there were “arguable” grounds to look again at the case.

Fourteen-year-old Adam hanged himself in 2004 in his cell at Hassockfield Secure Training Centre, in Consett, County Durham, just hours after he had been subject to a controversial restraining technique known as “nose distraction”, which has since been banned.

At a month-long inquest into his death last May, a jury ruled that Adam had deliberately taken his own life.

But Mrs Pounder, of Greenock Close, Burnley, said the inquest raised “more questions than answers” and campaigned tirelessly for a full review into the verdict.

In the High Court, her barrister Richard Herner said the coroner was wrong to ban the jury from considering the “legality” of the restraint used on Adam hours before he took his own life.

He said the 14-year-old had bled following the actions of the institution’s officers. Later - just a short time before taking his life - Adam had written letters to his solicitor regarding the use of the technique.

Mr Herner added: “On any view of events, the restraint of Adam was clearly on his mind in the hours before he chose to hang himself.”

He said the jury should have been allowed to consider whether the use of the “nose distraction” was “unlawful”.

Afterwards, Mrs Pounder said: “I'm glad that the judge listened to all the facts and evidence and has seen sense and granted permission to seek judicial review.”

The case will now go to a full court hearing, but not before September.

Earlier this year, the Government announced that the “nose distraction” technique was to be banned in prisons and young offenders institutions following a review.

The method involves pressure being applied to the bridge of the nose.