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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Diane Taylor

The tragedy of Rianna and baby Aisha: why a teenager gave birth all alone in a prison cell

A cell at HM Prison Bronzefield.
A cell at HM Prison Bronzefield. Photograph: Martin Argles/The Guardian

The last thing Rianna Cleary remembers before she passed out in the early hours of 27 September 2019, alone and in the throes of labour pain, was a scene involving a chicken leg in the film Killer Joe, which was showing on the TV screen in her prison cell.

Cleary was 18 at the time – an extremely vulnerable care leaver, she had felt judged harshly by the system ever since her pregnancy had been confirmed earlier in the year.

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