STEEP RISE IN SUICIDES WORRIES JAIL REFORMERS

The steep increase in prison suicides can be reversed only by cutting the
use of custodial sentences, a report by the Howard League penal reform
group said yesterday.

More and more vulnerable people were receiving prison terms - many with a
history of drug and alcohol addiction, family break-up or psychiatric
disorders - who could be more effectively dealt with by probation or
community sentences, the report said.

The number of prisoners committing suicide rose from 37 in 1988 to an
unprecedented 82 last year; the figure so far this year is 42. There were
126 suicides per 100,000 prisoners last year, compared with 12 per 100,000
in the population as a whole.

The report said the isolation and boredom of prison life often made the
situation unbearable for vulnerable inmates.

The rising prison population, from 50,000 in 1988 to more than 65,300 last
year, had compounded the problem. Pressure on resources had left many
inmates spending more time in overcrowded cells.

The problems were most acute among prisoners on remand, who accounted for
54% of suicides since 1990. Conditions for these prisoners were often among
the worst, because they were held in the most overcrowded jails and
sometimes spent 23 hours a day in their cells.

Two in five women and one in five men in prison had previously attempted
suicide, according to figures released by the office of national statistics
yesterday.

Those most likely to have tried to kill themselves were young, white and
single, had left school early and were poorly educated.

Frances Crook, director of the Howard League, said: "We believe that a sea
change in prison culture and standards is needed to deal with this problem."