The role that racism plays in deaths in UK prisons is being “overlooked and ignored”, according to a damning new report by INQUEST, a charity that investigates state-related deaths.
The report found that of the 2,220 people who died in prison in the last seven years, the deaths of people from minority ethnic backgrounds were some of the most “violent, contentious and neglectful”.
Using data obtained through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, the charity analysed information surrounding deaths in prisons between 2015 and 2021 – examining the circumstances that contributed to them, and the subsequent inquests, ombudsman reports and Ministry of Justice responses.
