The Ministry of Justice has today (25 July 2024) released the latest quarterly update on statistics on deaths and self-harm in prison in England and Wales. They show that the number and rate of self-harm incidents in the year to March 2024 are now at their highest ever level since recording began.
The rate of self-harm was 852 incidents of self-harm per 1000 prisoners. This means that the rate of self-harm rose by 25% in the men’s estate and 4% in the women’s estate.
The statistics also show that there were a total of 308 deaths of people in prison in the year to June 2024. 85 of which were self-inflicted.
Deborah Coles, Director at INQUEST, said: “We can all agree that we must do more to prevent harm in our society. Yet these record-high rates of self-harm and appalling numbers of deaths show the inherent violence and harms of prison.
The new government has committed to building 14,000 new prison places. If more prisons are the answer, then the government is asking the wrong questions.
Their plan does little to address why people end up in prison in the first place or how we can prevent further deaths.
To meaningfully prevent harm in our society, we need to dismantle prisons and redirect resources into social welfare, housing, healthcare and community alternatives."
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
For further information, interview requests and to note your interest, please contact [email protected] or leave a voicemail on 020 7263 1111 (option 3).
For more information and summaries of the circumstances of deaths of people in prison, see our report
Deaths in prison: A national scandal (January 2021) and latest
Media Releases on prison cases.
Please refer to the Samaritans Media Guidelines for reporting suicide and self-harm.
Inquest Responds To Record High Rate Of Self-harm In Prison In Latest Stats
CONTENT WARNING: Please read with care as this page may involve information on death, suicide, mental illness, disability, state neglect, and police and prison violence that some people may find upsetting. If you need support, please visit our support page.
The Ministry of Justice has today (25 July 2024) released the latest quarterly update on statistics on deaths and self-harm in prison in England and Wales. They show that the number and rate of self-harm incidents in the year to March 2024 are now at their highest ever level since recording began.
The rate of self-harm was 852 incidents of self-harm per 1000 prisoners. This means that the rate of self-harm rose by 25% in the men’s estate and 4% in the women’s estate.
The statistics also show that there were a total of 308 deaths of people in prison in the year to June 2024. 85 of which were self-inflicted.
Deborah Coles, Director at INQUEST, said: “We can all agree that we must do more to prevent harm in our society. Yet these record-high rates of self-harm and appalling numbers of deaths show the inherent violence and harms of prison.
The new government has committed to building 14,000 new prison places. If more prisons are the answer, then the government is asking the wrong questions.
Their plan does little to address why people end up in prison in the first place or how we can prevent further deaths.
To meaningfully prevent harm in our society, we need to dismantle prisons and redirect resources into social welfare, housing, healthcare and community alternatives."
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
For further information, interview requests and to note your interest, please contact [email protected] or leave a voicemail on 020 7263 1111 (option 3).
For more information and summaries of the circumstances of deaths of people in prison, see our report Deaths in prison: A national scandal (January 2021) and latest Media Releases on prison cases.
Please refer to the Samaritans Media Guidelines for reporting suicide and self-harm.
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