Scotland: Deaths in prisons
01 September 1998
Between March and July 1998 four male remand prisoners committed suicide in Barlinnie, Scotland's largest prison. All the suicide victims were in their twenties and were awaiting trial on charges of theft, bail misdemeanours and breach of the peace. John Scott, Chair of the Scottish Centre for Human Rights pointed out that the men were "not convicted of any crime. And 60 to 70 per cent of those on remand get non-custodial sentences anyway. Serious action has to be taken". In a report published in September 1997 the Chief Inspector of Prisons condemned conditions in the remand wing as "nothing short of a national disgrace". He noted that the prison was 51% over capacity at the time of his visit and that there had been in excess of 75,000 receptions since the last inspection in 1993. Untried and remand prisoners were being moved into Barlinnie in "batches of 150-200 after local Courts empty on a Monday". The report also indicated that "over the previous 42 months there had been 15 deaths in custody."
At the beginning of July it was reported that there had been another suicide in Cornton Vale, Scotland's only women's prison. This was the eighth in the prison since 1995, most of which had also occurred in the remand block. Two of the women were seventeen years old.
The deaths have taken place in the context of the continuing expansion in the prison population in Scotland. The average daily population now stands at 6,000. This equates to one of the highest rates of imprisonment in western Europe. The rise in the rate of imprisonment for women has been particularly acute. Between 1992 and 1996 the proportion jailed went up by half, from 2.7 per cent to 4.1 per cent. At the same time the number convicted of any crime fell by a quarter, from 28,050 to 21,300. In May l998 the population reached a twenty year high. The increase was largely among women jailed for short periods for petty crimes. Less than 1 per cent of the female population were inside for crimes of violence. Most were being punished for what the Chief Inspector of Prisons called "petty nuisance". Many of those imprisoned in Cornton Vale had also suffered serious abuse. Nancy Loukes' research found that 50 per cent had been sexually abused either as children or in adulthood while 80 per cent had been abused either sexually, physically or emotionally.
The South Glaswegian 9.7.98; Report on HM Prison Barlinnie 1997 pp 95-97; Independent on Sunday 5.7.98; The Scotsman 11.5.98; Independent 14.5.98.u