Death of man awaiting trial for killing landlady and her mother is second at Manchester prison within month

A man who was awaiting trial for the murder of two women at a house where he lodged has been found dead in his prison cell. It is the second death of a high-profile prisoner at HMP Manchester in the last month.

The bodies of Angela Holgate, 54, and her mother Alice Huyton, 75, were found at their home in Southport, Merseyside, in December. Barry Morrow, 52, fled the country but later handed himself in. Both victims died of asphyxiation, Merseyside police said at the time.

A Prison Service spokeswoman said Morrow was found hanging in his cell on Thursday afternoon.

"Staff attempted resuscitation and paramedics attended but he was pronounced dead at 2.46pm. As with all deaths in custody, the prisons and probation ombudsman will conduct an investigation."

Paedophile Martin Smith, 46, was found hanged at the prison on 23 January. He had been jailed for 16 years after being convicted of a series of rapes, attempted rapes and indecent assault of a child.

His partner, Lianne Smith, 43, is accusing of murdering their two children, Rebecca, five, and Daniel, 11 months, in a Spanish hotel and is in custody in Spain.

Morrow had been remanded in custody ahead of a plea hearing on 19 March at Liverpool crown court, with a scheduled trial date of 7 May.

Police launched a Europe-wide hunt for him when he was spotted in France shortly after Holgate and her mother were found by a relative. Morrow was seen in Calais after apparently catching a ferry across the Channel with Holgate's white Citroen car. He was arrested and brought back to the UK days later.

While at large he had contacted a local newspaper via Facebook to protest his innocence.

Holgate, the mother of two adult daughters, had been ill and for the week before her death had not been seen out of the house where she had lived for around 20 years.

Police had said they were "keeping an open mind" about the motive behind the killings and said the house did not appear to have been burgled. Sources at the time of the manhunt confirmed Morrow was known to the police.

It is understood he pleaded guilty last year to assaulting a woman from Southport, unconnected to the murders.