The number of people dying in prison has risen to its highest level since records began in 1978, figures seen by the Howard League for Penal Reform reveal today. Serious assaults on prison staff have soared by 54 per cent in two years, and prisoner-on-prisoner violence has also risen sharply. The 'safety in custody' statistics, published by the Ministry of Justice, provide yet more evidence that prisons have become more dangerous as they struggle to deal with staff cuts and chronic overcrowding.
The figures show that 235 prisoners died in the 12 months to the end of September 2014 - a 19 per cent increase on the previous year. Suicides rose by 38 per cent during the period - from 63 to 87. Self-harm rates among male prisoners have risen by 52 per cent since June 2005.
The number of assaults on prison staff rose by 12 per cent to 3,427 in the 12 months to the end of June 2014 - an average of more than nine assaults per day. Serious assaults accounted for 395 of these incidents - up from 300 during the previous year. There were three apparent homicides in prisons in the 12 months to the end of September 2014.
Frances Crook, Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: "Ministers must be held accountable for the decisions they make. The lethal cocktail of drastic staff cuts, introduction of spartan regimes as part of the incentives scheme, gross overcrowding and rising prison numbers are the cause of violence and self-injury.
"I have never seen a public service deteriorate so rapidly and so profoundly as has happened in prisons in the last year. Government policy is putting public servants and the public in danger. Ministers have responded by sticking their fingers in their ears and singing. That has to change."
