A trans woman who was found dead in a male prison said she would leave ‘in a box’, an inquest has heard.

Vikki Thompson, who died in Leeds Prison in November 2015, had told her partner she would ‘not last long’.

She was just 21.

Giving evidence, Thompson’s partner Robert Steele said: ‘I believe she shouldn’t have been in a male prison.”

He said he spoke to her on the phone while she was in prison and she told him she wanted to move to a female prison and her solicitors were waiting for her to make a formal application to the governor.

Steele also said he received a letter from his partner which said: ‘I don’t think I can last very long in here. I can’t sleep at night. I just feel like I won’t be here no more.’

He said the letter continued: ‘I know I’m going to do something silly. I don’t want to but I can’t do this.’

The jury was also told when Thompson arrived, a male prisoner put a note under her door asking her to spend the night.

Thompson’s mother, Lisa Harrison, said she had limited conversation with her daughter.

‘Vikki didn’t like prison but who does?’ she said. ‘She never said anything to me about it being the wrong prison for her.’

The coroner said she did not have a Gender Recognition Certificate.

However, this does not matter. Prison guidelines prior to the last year, and also in the updated version, state a trans person should be sent to a prison that corresponds with their gender identity.

The court heard how she was found hanged in her cell on November 2015.

The inquest, which lasts three weeks, continues.