Pauline Campbell, a former civil servant and college lecturer, was arrested outside Holloway prison yesterday while protesting about what she said was the inhuman treatment of women inmates.

She has been a vociferous critic of the prison system since the death of her 18-year-old daughter, Sarah, at Styal prison in 2003. Sarah, an only child, was the third of six women to die at the Cheshire jail in a 12-month period.