13/09/2007

Woman Found Murdered On Kent Prison Grounds

A female teacher has been found murdered in the car park of a Kent prison.

Detectives are investigating the death of the woman at East Sutton Park Open Prison near Maidstone, at 1715 BST on Wednesday.

Police have said that the teacher who worked at the jail had left the building an hour before her death.

The woman's body was found behind her car by a member of prison staff.

The woman worked for private contractor A4e to deliver the Offeder Learning and Skills Service.

Police have not confirmed that the woman, who was in her 40s, had been found with her throat cut open.

East Sutton Park, described as a pleasant mansion house overlooking the Weald of Kent, first opened as a borstal in 1946.

It holds both adult and young offender women in open conditions preparing them for resettlement in the community, according to the Prison Service.

Police have appealed for anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in the area from 1500 BST to contact them.

Formal identification is due to take place while a post-mortem examination will be conducted.

The grounds of the prison have been sealed off while police carry out a forensic examination of the scene.

(DS)

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