News

The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman opened 224 fatal incident investigations over the past year, a number which was “higher than anticipated”, its annual report says, writes Maria Ahmed.
  
The investigations included 94 cases of suicide including the deaths of young offenders Adam Rickwood, 14, at Hassockfield secure training centre, the youngest person ever to die in custody, and 15-year-old Gareth Myatt at Rainsbrook secure training centre.
 
The Ombudsman also investigated six deaths in the immigration service – three linked to suicide, two of natural causes and one where the cause was unknown.

 
Ombudsman Stephen Shaw said the deaths illustrated “the unfair demands placed upon an already overburdened prison system in caring for many thousands of vulnerable prisoners, many with long histories of alcohol and drug abuse, mental illness, and previous episodes of self-harm and suicide attempts.”
 
Shaw highlighted the case of a young man who died from a drug overdose alone on a deserted railway station as the “most upsetting” case he had reviewed.
 
Shaw said the man had been supervised by the probation services on a drug treatment and testing order. The Home Office said the details of the case were confidential.
 
The report said that some of the investigations revealed “very poor” practice in a number of prisons.

 
Shaw raised particular concern over 99 deaths from natural causes among older prisoners, which he attributed in part to the increasing average age of the prison population and longer sentences.
 
He said the deaths raised questions about whether the prisoners had received adequate healthcare.
 
The report also said 4,385 prisoner complaints were received between 2004-5, representing a 15 per cent rise on the previous year.
 
 
Report from: http://www.ppo.gov.uk/