The admission, which followed a two-year battle for justice by the teenager's mother, is believed to be the first such case in this country since the Human Rights Act became law in October 2000.

Colin Williamson was found hanging in his cell at Portland young offenders' institution in Dorset on June 3 2001, less than a week after being taken off the prison's suicide risk regime.

He had told doctors and a psychiatrist at Portland prior to his death that he was hearing voices telling him to kill himself and had been put on suicide watch.

But three days before he died he was taken off again by officers who failed to consult medical staff. This failure was in breach of a governor's order that this should be done in every case.

The teenager from Reading had also been put in a cell on his own despite a Prison Service policy that those at risk from suicide should always share a cell.

It is widely recognised that being "two-ed up" in this fashion makes a vulnerable prisoner feel less isolated and, of course, if a person attempts to harm himself, a cell-mate can intervene or call for help.

Following the inquest the coroner wrote to the governor of Portland and to Prison Service headquarters raising the family's concern about the non-use of shared cells. Despite this, the routine use of shared cells was not put into practice. Since then there has been at least one further suicide at Portland.

Williamson's mother, Norma Woods, fought to bring a case against the Prison Service alleging a breach of article 2 of the Human Rights Act, namely the right to life.

Last Friday, two days before the scheduled beginning of a full court hearing an out of court settlement was reached, with the Prison Service accepting that a failure of procedures resulted in his death.

It also acknowledged that the internal Prison Service investigation and inquest into the death were together not compliant with article 2 of the European convention of human rights in terms of inadequate involvement of his family in the inquiry process and the failure of the coroner to leave alternative verdicts to the jury, especially system neglect.

Mrs Woods has been promised written proof that the Prison Service has now implemented measures to help prevent similar deaths in the future.

Speaking after the settlement was reached she expressed anger at the "delaying tactics used by the Prison Service" following the death of her son.

"I'm mad at them for taking nearly three years to hold their hands up to faults that were obvious from the beginning. All that I wanted was justice for Colin and for them to take steps to see that other families don't endure the pain that me and my partner have been put through," she said yesterday.

Her solicitor, Nogah Ofer, of Hickman and Rose, said the Prison Service had suicide pre vention policies in place at the time of Williamson's death but they were not implemented.

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She added that the service failed to try to learn lessons from the tragedy by adopting a defensive attitude until finally admitting liability two days before the hearing.

Questioning the manner in which the Home Office deals with deaths in custody, she asked: "Why do families have to take the Prison Service to court in order to have accountability?"

Deborah Coles of Inquest spoke of the grieving families her organisation deals with whose sadness is prolonged by a system that denies them knowledge of how their loved ones died. This case is not unusual, she said.

"The sad reality is that the failings identified in this case are a common feature of the deaths that Inquest deals with on a daily basis.

She added: "How much public money has been used where the Prison Service has tried to defend the indefensible?"

The Prison Service was not available for comment.

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