A woman with a history of mental health problems, and a victim of police brutality a few years earlier, Reed died while on remand in Holloway prison.
[4] A mixed-race black woman, Reed's mental health problems began in 2003 after the sudden death of her baby daughter.
[8] In 2012, Reed was the victim of a severe attack from a white police officer PC James Kiddie, and suffered two broken ribs.
[9][11] While in the psychiatric Maudsley Hospital in 2014, Reed told her family that she was sexually assaulted by an elderly male patient;[2] some reports say this was a case of attempted rape.
[6] After reportedly acting in self-defence, she was charged with GBH with intent and held in Holloway prison on remand from October 2015 for psychiatric assessment to determine whether she was able to plead at trial.