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UK: Prison suicides "a shaming indictment" of penal system

01 May 2005

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Thirteen prisoners took their own lives in June 2005.

The Howard League for Penal Reform published figures showing that 804 men, women and children have committed suicide whilst in the care of the prison service in the last 10 years, with a 46% increase in the prison population in the same period. Of these, 55% were on remand, despite remand prisoners only comprising 19% of the total prison population. Local jails suffered higher rates of suicide. Women prisoners were 30 times more likely to commit suicide in prison then male prisoners. In the period 1995-2004, 17 children took their own lives in jails in England and Wales. Frances Crook, for the Howard League, said: "The number of prison suicides in the last 10 years is a shaming indictment of our penal system. With the present level of overcrowding in our prisons, people are being literally condemned to an early death."

Howard League for Penal Reform

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