THE mum of tragic Adam Rickwood the youngest person to die in custody in Britain has vowed to continue her fight for the truth about her son's death into the new year.

Carol Pounder, whose 14-year-old son Adam was found hanging in Hassockfield Secure Training Centre, in Durham, in August 2004, is still waiting for notification of an inquest 18 months later.

And she has been told it could be months more before an inquest date is set.

Carol, of Harold Street, Burnley, said: "I haven't heard anything about an inquest but that doesn't mean the campaign for the truth is finished.

"I will continue fighting for answers about what happened.

"This is something I will never let go."

In August, Carol and other members of Adam's family held a protest at Burnley magistrates calling for an end to penal custody for children.

The number of children in custody has risen from 3,130 in October 2004 to 3,423 in September 2005 and last year the Howard League launched a major national campaign to end the unnecessary use of penal custody for children.

Twenty-nine children have died in custody since 1990, including Adam, an average of two every year.

Twenty seven of the children died in prisons, and two died in privately-run jails for children, secure training centres.

A study published in the journal Lancet last year suggested children in prison are 18 times more likely to commit suicide than their counterparts in the community.