Britain:Penal reformers last night claimed that increased overcrowding lay behind the rising number of deaths in British prisons after the first official count revealed that the annual figure was nearly 600.
The first annual report from the Forum for Preventing Deaths in Custody shows that one-third of those who die in psychiatric detention, prisons and police stations do so for reasons other than natural causes, including suicide.
John Wadham, the chairman of the forum, which includes the police, prison service, mental health specialists and coroners among its members, said: "While it is not possible to eliminate every one of those deaths, it is clear that many lives could and should be saved."
The forum's report is the first attempt to count the number of deaths in custody across the criminal justice system, including prisons, secure hospitals, child jails and police custody suites.
The figures show that the largest number of deaths - 351 - in the year 2006/07 were among detained mental patients, of which 279 were from natural causes but at least 41 were the result of apparent suicides.
In prisons 71 of the 162 deaths recorded were self-inflicted or for reasons other than natural causes.
The report raises concerns about the effectiveness and independence of mental health investigations into such deaths compared with the inquiries in relation to deaths in police and prison custody.
The report says there is evidence of "good practice" in reducing deaths in custody and highlights the fact that there has not been a prison service death as a result of somebody being restrained for the past 12 years. But it does raise concerns about the 33 deaths recorded in prison segregation units between 2004 and 2007, saying that too often the most difficult prisoners were also the most vulnerable.
- (Guardian service)