THE family of a mentally unwell father who killed himself at Chelmsford Prison met the Justice Secretary to put forward their case for change.

Dean Saunders, 25, from Basildon, was found electrocuted in his cell in January 2016, and an inquest found failings in mental healthcare and the prison system contributed to his death.

The family met Liz Truss MP on Tuesday after she was approached by the Weekly News, when their pleas to meet went unanswered.

Dean's father Mark, a bus driver from Basildon, described the meeting as a “step in the right direction”, but warned “practices must be put in place.”

He said: “Liz Truss apologised to us for the failings that led to Dean’s death, and that there were that many failings there just wasn’t an excuse.

“We spoke of ways to improve the system, and one of our concerns was how Dean ended up in prison in the first place, and she said she would address that.

“She has to enforce these changes now, and I will be watching, and if promises aren’t kept I will be wanting answers.

“It’s all well and good putting more money into the prison system as she’s promised, but it can’t go in at the highest level - she agreed.”

The meeting came days before the South West Norfolk MP announced a new package of wide-ranging prison reforms.

It includes pay rises for guards at 31 jails across London and the South East where recruitment has proved the most difficult.

As well as the announcement on pay, she said thousands of new learning and development opportunities would be made available to staff, who will also receive specialist training in mental health and self-harm prevention.

Mr Saunders welcomed the news, but stressed the need for pro tocols to be put into practice.

He said: “I welcome Liz Truss’s announcement of specialised training for prevention of self harming and suicide at Chelmsford prison and nationwide.

“It has taken too long and is too late for my son but let’s hope it will protect and save people in the future...but this has to be put to practice. And continued to be practiced, if it is to work.”

At Chelmsford Coroner’s Court last month, a jury concluded the father- of-one killed himself while “the balance of his mind was disturbed, and the cause of death was contributed to by neglect.”

He had been arrested the month before his death, after his father was stabbed while trying to stop his son harming himself during a paranoid episode.

Care UK, the healthcare provider at HMP Chelmsford, announced it was to quit its contract at the prison, after the jury’s damning verdict.

The jury of 11 unanimously concluded “financial considerations” were made in deciding to downgrade Dean Saunders from continuous watch to half-hourly observations.