There were 67 apparent self-inflicted deaths among prisoners in England and Wales in 2006 - a ten year low.

However, the number of apparent self-inflicted deaths in 2007, as reported by the Ministry of Justice, was 92.

You will find press statements issued by the Prison Reform Trust on this subject here.

Key facts

• The suicide rate for men in prison is 5 times greater than that for men in the community. Boys aged 15-17 are even more likely, 18 times more likely, to kill themselves in prison than in the community.
• HM Prisons Inspectorate has found that in spite of improvements in safer custody, male local prisons accounted for 73% of deaths in custody though they hold only about 36% of the population. Local prisons continue to be at the sharp end of overcrowding pressure.  
• Men recently released from prison were eight times more likely, than the general population, to commit suicide. Women were 36 times more likely to kill themselves.
• Of the 82 suicides from 1 January to 29 November 2007, seven have been women, up from three in 2006. Six young people aged 18-21 have taken their own lives as against 2 in 2006.  No children had died in custody since two deaths in 2005.  On 29 November 2007 notification was received of the death of a 15 year old boy in HMYOI Lancaster Farms.  
• Almost one third of suicides occur within the first week of someone arriving in custody and one in seven within two days of admission.
• Nearly two-thirds of those who commit suicide in prison have a history of drug misuse and nearly a third have a history of alcohol misuse.
• One study found that 72% of those who commit suicide in prison had a history of mental disorder. 57% had symptoms suggestive of mental disorder at reception into prison.
• One in five suicides are in prison healthcare or segregation units.
• 75% of suicides in prisons between 2000 and 2004 took place in prisons that were overcrowded in that month.
• In all, 20% of men and almost 40% of women entering custody say they have previously attempted suicide. According to the government’s Social Exclusion Unit, more than 50 prisoners commit suicide shortly after release each year.

For full references, please see the Bromley Briefings Prison Factfile