Sarah Reed: Woman punched in face by PC James Kiddie in filmed attack dies at Holloway Prison

The woman battered by former Met Police constable James Kiddie was found dead at HMP Holloway last month, it has emerged. Sarah Reed was found unresponsive her cell at the North London prison on 11 January and died after paramedics fought to save her life.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "HMP Holloway prisoner Sarah Reed was found unresponsive in her cell at 8am on January 11. Prison staff attempted CPR, but she was pronounced dead shortly after. As with all deaths in custody, the independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will conduct an investigation."

Race equality campaigner Lee Jasper wrote on his blog that the 32-year-old suffered from mental health issues and had been detained under the Mental Health Act. He added he had spoke with Reed's family and that police said she had "strangled" herself while lying on her bed.

Sarah will be buried on 8 February in a private family ceremony, he added.

After the shocking CCTV footage surfaced in 2014, Kiddie received a 12-month community order and was ordered to complete 150-hour community service and pay £500 in costs in 2014 after being found guilty of assaulting Reed at the Uniqlo store in Regent Street, London, two years earlier.

The PC, who had previously been the subject of two substantiated complaints, one for lack of courtesy and respect and another for discriminatory comments, can be seen punching Reed in the face and dragging her along the ground in the clip.

He claimed Reed tried to bite him but lost an appeal to quash his assault conviction and was dismissed from the force without notice last year.