A prisoner who ten days prior to his death was described as a happy and responsible man, was found hanged in his cell at The Mount prison, an inquest has heard today.

Davy Green, 35, was found by prison officers in his cell on the Narey Unit at the Bovingdon prison on October 7 last year.

The inquest heard Green had a history of self-harm, having previously cut his wrists.

Safety Custody Officer Christine Blackman, who had carried out an assessment on Green after he self-harmed, said: "Davy was quite anxious and upset and had difficulties on the wing as it was noisy and loud.

"He regretted doing it and it was out of anger and frustration and he had no intentions of committing suicide."

Green moved to The Mount in 2005 from another prison on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.

Before being moved to the Narey, he had been located in several other wards. He self-harmed before he moved to the Narey unit, and was then put on an increased level of watch and was reviewed regularly.

The inquest heard Green was angry and frustrated after being accused of misusing his medication.

Ms Blackman added: "We knew he was feeling rather down so we suggested a relaxation course."

The course was designed to help him with coping strategies, she said.

When Green moved to the Narey ward, which is much smaller and quieter than other wards, he was able to choose his own cell and help organise the furniture.

The inquest heard he had settled down, had no thoughts of self-harm or suicide attempts and was coping "ok".

Ms Blackman said: "We got on really well. We were both quite short so we used to laugh and joke about that. We had a good professional relationship."

Around ten days before his death, he was seen laughing and joking and was saying how wonderful his new cell was, compared to his previous one.

On the morning of his death, at around 5.30am, night patrol officer Habib Niazi carried out cell checks.

He looked inside Green's cell but could not see him, so started banging on the door and called out for him but there was no answer.

He then alerted the control room who advised him to try again but still there was no response.

The senior officer on duty that morning, Dave Spencer, was called and officers opened the cell.

Mr Niazi said: "There were pictures and photos of his family on the bed but there was no light on in the cell. He was hanging from the rail across the shower door. We cut him down and put him on the bed, but after a few minutes we knew he was dead."

A post mortem carried out by Dr Kenneth Shorrock on October 9, 2007, confirmed the cause of death was hanging.

The inquest continues and is expected to last until tomorrow.