Prison deaths in HMP Stocken part of national record number in 2021
There's a call for prisons to be part of an inquiry into the Government's response to Covid
Last updated 28th Jan 2022
A charity is calling for prisons to form part of an inquiry into the Government's response to the pandemic.
It's after a record number of prison inmates died in 2021 across England and Wales, including three deaths recorded at HMP Stocken, in Rutland.
371 people died in prison custody in 2021, a 17% rise on the year before.
Andrea Coomber, Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: "For the first time since current recording practices began more than 40 years ago, people in prison are dying at a rate of more than one per day.
"While the full impact of the pandemic will only become apparent in the years to come, there is plainly a mental health crisis in our prisons with suicides up nearly 30 per cent in the past year.
"Tens of thousands of people have been held in overcrowded conditions or solitary confinement for months on end. It is almost impossible to fathom the mental distress that this will have caused."
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “Our decisive action has kept prisoners safe in difficult circumstances, with video calls and in-cell education rolled out in recognition of tough but necessary restrictions.
“We continue to improve mental health support – with more than 25,000 staff trained in suicide and self-harm prevention so far, while a new taskforce is dedicated to reducing high levels of self-harm in women’s prisons.”