AN inquest into the circumstances of how a man jailed for stealing a pensioner's handbag died will begin on Monday.

Sheldon Woodford was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison a month before his death, and was serving the sentence at Winchester Prison.

He was taken to hospital on March 9 last year, and died three days later.

Woodford, who was 24 and of no fixed abode, stole 90-year-old Betty Aldworth's handbag on the morning of December 29 2014.

Police issued a CCTV appeal and Woodford's mother contacted police on January 2 2015.

It is believed that prison staff were aware that Woodford was an "at risk" prisoner.

After his death, mum Sharron Lewis said: "He was in the right place to get help and he obviously didn't get it."

The inquest comes days after figures from the Ministry of Justice revealed the prison had the highest regional figure for deaths in custody in 2015.