Ombudsman publishes report on self-inflicted deaths in prison

The latest Learning Lessons publication looks at 84 of 89 self-inflicted deaths in prison between April 2013 and March 2014 and compares the issues that arose to those of the year before.

“There is no simple answer to why the number of prisoners committing suicide rose so sharply last year, but the rise was unacceptable,” said Nigel Newcomen, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO). Today he published a thematic report on lessons to be learned from investigations into self-inflicted deaths of prisoners in 2013/14. Read the press release here.

In his most recent Annual Report, the Ombudsman reported a 64% increase in self-inflicted deaths in custody investigated by his office. This latest report, Learning from PPO Investigations: self-inflicted deaths of prisoners – 2013/14 looked at 84 of 89 self-inflicted deaths in prison between April 2013 and March 2014 and compared the issues that arose to the year before.