Prison suicides - the body count increases
01 November 2003
The governor of HMP Durham, where four inmates have committed suicide in the last six months, has stated that vulnerable remand prisoners should not be sent there. An inquiry has begun following the suicide by hanging of 30-year old Maurice Cowan at HMP Durham. According to the Prison Reform Trust more prisoners (6) committed suicide at HMP Durham in the last year than at any other jail. Governor Mike Newell has said "We need to make sure that we don't remand into custody highly vulnerable people who could be better accommodated through bail hostels."
There have been 14 deaths of women in custody since 1 January 2003.
Twenty five young people aged between 15 and 17 have committed suicide in custody since 1990. The UK jails more teenagers and young adults than any other western European country. As the body count increases, the Prison Service appears determined to carry on as before. A recent report by Ann Owers, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, into HMP YOI Castington, reported that most young prisoners there spent more than 22 hours a day in cells, with virtually no access to vocational or skills training. In her report, Owers identified clear weaknesses in child protection arrangements and a need for better communication and co-ordination in relation to the identification and management of young prisoners at risk.
BBC News 8.10.03; Report of Chief Inspector of Prisons-HMP YOI Castington; Times 12.11.03; BBC News Online 8.12.03; Miscarriages of Justice UK 8.12.03.