HM Prison Aylesbury (Andy Aitchison @prisonimage)
One hundred and six people have died in prison so far in 2017. This includes 28 people who have taken their own lives. Last year was the highest number of self-inflicted deaths since current recording practices began in 1978. 120 people took their own lives in prison in 2016. On average a prisoner died by suicide every three days.
The rise in prison suicides has coincided with cuts to prison staffing and budgets and a rise in the number of people in prison, resulting in overcrowding. Some prisons introduced restricted regimes and many prisoners are spending hours each day locked in their cells with little to occupy them. Overcrowding and understaffing have created a toxic mix of violence, death and human misery in our prisons. Data from the Ministry of Justice reveal high levels of assaults and self-injury. Some prisoners were too frightened to come out of their cells, according to reports from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP).
