Figures have revealed that 65 children and young adults have died in detention during the last four years, an average of one a month.
The figures, in a report by campaign group Inquest, prompted renewed calls for a fundamental rethink about the suitability of prison for young people, arguing that “a litany of systemic neglect, institutional complacency and short-sighted policies” contributed to the deaths.
The report, which also identifies “an institutional resignation or complacency towards youth deaths in prison”, comes ahead of the results of an inquiry by Lord Harris into how to reduce the numbers of deaths in jail among 18- to 24-year-olds.
A report on Monday from the Howard League for Penal Reform will also document in detail how prisons are being forced to squeeze more inmates into cells as jails close.
A majority of the deaths – 54 – were classified as “self-inflicted” and of these 29 occurred in single cells, raising concerns about the quality of risk assessments on inmate placed by themselves.
Of the 54 suicides, all but one were hangings and involved the use of cell windows, light fittings, shoelaces and bunk beds. Of the remaining deaths, three were classified as “natural causes”, two were categorised as “unknown” at the time of writing and four were homicides, which also raise questions about prison health and safety, particularly in light of the murder of 19-year-old Zahid Mubarek by his cellmate Robert Stewart, a known violent racist with mental health problems, in Feltham young offenders’ institution in March 2000.
Deborah Coles, co-director of Inquest, said: “There are so many deaths in prison because prison is, by its very nature, dehumanising and violent. The limits to which they can be changed or reformed means that prison … will continue to be a place where people lose their lives. Too often a punitive and generic approach has been deployed, which is counter-productive to the neurological and psychological developmental stage of 18- to 24-year-olds.”The report added: “Time and again systems set up to safeguard children and young adults fail miserably” arguing that “prison is an ineffective and expensive intervention that does not work”.
Prison staff make decisions about prisoners’ risk using a tool called Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) yet the report found that 36 of the 54 self-inflicted deaths, more than two-thirds of the total, were not on an ACCT at the time of their death, provoking further concerns about the identification young prisoners at risk.
Further analysis by Inquest on 47 of the young adults who died in prison identified a series of questions about levels of care, mental health, alcohol or drug misuse and learning difficulties. It found that 33 had mental health issues including diagnoses of personality disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder while 13 of those who died had experienced some kind of family breakdown. Almost a quarter had special needs or learning difficulties and a third had problems with alcohol and drug misuse.
Of the 65 deaths, 62 were aged from 18-24 years and three were children under 18 years, with the youngest being 15-year-old Alex Kelly who was found hanging in his cell in January 2012.
Further analysis of the prison deaths show that 28 (43%) occurred in an adult prison, 14 deaths in a young offender institution and that only 6% were young women. “Successive governments have hardened their political rhetoric to appear tough on crime, overlooking appropriate placement in community or therapeutic environments where behavioural change can be supported,” added Coles.
