Prison suicides at seven-year high

By The Press Association22nd January 2015News EnglandCustodial Care, News England, Suicide

The number of prisoners taking their own lives has risen to a seven-year high, with Government cuts to staff being blamed for the growing problem.

Fourteen of the 82 people who killed themselves while behind bars in England and Wales last year were aged between 18 and 24.

A total of 235 people died while in prison last year, figures compiled by the Howard League for Penal Reform based on notifications from the Ministry of Justice show.

Twenty-four deaths have not yet been classified, while more than 120 people died of natural causes.

The statistics reveal that a third of prisoners who took their own lives were on remand, but just a seventh of the prison population is made up of remand prisoners at any one time, the charity said.

Frances Crook, the charity’s chief executive, said prison workers have to deal with people attempting to take their own lives almost every day, and blamed staff cuts for the rise in deaths.

“No one should be so desperate whilst they are in the care of the state that they take their own life.

“The numbers hide the true extent of misery inside prisons and for families. It is particularly tragic that teenagers and other young people have died by their own hand in our prisons and we should all be ashamed that this happened.

“Hard-pressed prison staff have to save lives by cutting people down almost every day and without this the death toll would be even higher.

“It is evident that people are dying as a direct result of the cuts to the number of staff, particularly more experienced staff, in every prison.

“The Government has chosen to allow the prison population to increase while it cuts staff, and that has led to an increase in people dying by suicide.”

The organisation is to work with the Centre for Mental Health, supported by The Monument Trust, to tackle the issue of suicides in prison.

Sean Duggan, chief executive of the charity Centre for Mental Health, said: “Every time a person takes their own life it is a tragedy for them and their family, and we must do all we can to avoid such loss of life.

“Centre for Mental Health is pleased to announce it will be embarking on a joint programme of work with the Howard League for Penal Reform, supported by The Monument Trust, to research ways to prevent suicides in prison.

“We hope the work will make a real difference to people in prison at risk of suicide and with poor mental health.”

Prisons minister Andrew Selous said: “Every death in custody is a terrible tragedy. We remain focussed on doing all we can to prevent them.

“What I cannot understand is why the Howard League is trying to use this loss of life for their own campaigning purposes.

“They are deliberately misrepresenting the situation in our prison for their own ends. This helps no one – least of all the vulnerable individuals in prison whose well-being is the absolute priority of prisons staff and ministers alike.”