Alarm over rise in prison killings

The Howard League for Penal Reform has called for urgent action after figures for 2013 showed a sharp increase in the number of suspected murders and self-inflicted deaths behind bars.

Data compiled by the charity from Ministry of Justice statistics reveal there were four alleged homicides in prisons in England and Wales, the highest total in a calendar year in more than a decade.

One of the homicides was at the Category C and D Lindholme prison, near Doncaster, where 22-year-old inmate Michael Hennessy from Nottingham was stabbed to death in December.

Two prisoners were arrested on suspicion of murder by South Yorkshire Police shortly after the death. They were later released on bail and returned to the prison service while investigations continue.

In total, 199 deaths were reported during 2013, according to the charity. Of these, 70 were self-inflicted, the highest rate since 2007 when there were 92 self-inflicted deaths. More than 100 prisoners died of natural causes, and a further 22 deaths are yet to be classified by prison authorities.

The Howard League says it is also aware of the self-inflicted death of a prisoner who was “unlawfully at large” from Ford prison, West Sussex, in December 2013, in addition to the 70.

Professor David Wilson, vice chair of the Howard League, Professor of Criminology at Birmingham City University and a former prison governor, said the total of alleged murders was the highest since 1998.

There were only three alleged homicides at prisons in England and Wales in the period between the start of 2009 and the end of 2012.

Prof Wilson said: “It reflects deep structural problems about control and order inside our jails – not our most high-security jails, but every prison in which we currently lock people up.

“The prison service has a duty of care to prisoners that this murder rate suggests it cannot deliver.”

There were 17 deaths in custody last year at prisons in Yorkshire and the Humber, a rise of one from the 2012 total.

Aside from the suspected murder at HMP Lindholme, one self-inflicted death at HMP Wealstun, near Wetherby, and an unexplained death at New Hall women’s prison, near Wakefield, the remainder of the deaths were from natural causes.

The prisons which saw the most deaths were HMP Wakefield, where five inmates died in 2013, and the maximum security HMP Full Sutton, near Pocklington in East Yorkshire, where four inmates died.

Full Sutton prison hit the headlines last summer when a male officer suffered a broken cheekbone after allegedly being taken hostage. Three men have been charged and appeared in court over the incident.

Frances Crook, the chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “Each death in custody is a tragedy and almost all of them are preventable.

“The responsibility for an increase in the number of people who take their own lives in prison lies squarely with those who advocate putting behind bars more and more people who do not need to be there.

“This is the consequence of a policy that squanders a scarce resource, meaning that these 
institutions cannot keep people safe.”

Former Home Secretary David Blunkett, a Labour MP in Sheffield, said: “These statistics reinforce what we already know – namely that very many of those who are self-harming and at risk have severe mental health problems.

“Despite past efforts to improve mental health provision, including a decade ago when the NHS took over health provision for the first time, there is a long way still to go.

“This is something which any humane society would want to develop, alongside clear and tough punishment for those who warrant it.”

As well as HMP Lindholme, the other prisons where homicides were allegedly committed in 2013 are Hewell, near Redditch, Worcestershire, Long Lartin, near Evesham, Worcestershire; and HMP Lincoln. Five self-inflicted deaths were recorded at Wormwood Scrubs in London, and there were four at Woodhill, near Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. A further five prisons each recorded three self-inflicted deaths.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “We are committed to making sure prisons are safe and secure – this includes reducing the number of deaths and applying strenuous efforts to learn from each one. Every death is subject to an investigation by the police and the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) as well as a coroner’s inquest.”