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SELF-HARM levels in both male and female prisons have soared by a fifth in the last year, official data by the Ministry of Justice revealed yesterday.
Prisons in England and Wales recorded 70,875 incidents of self-harm in the 12 months to the end of December 2023 — at a rate of one every seven minutes.
The rate went up by 24 per cent in men’s prisons and by 11 per cent in women’s prisons, but both decreased by 5 per cent in the most recent quarter.
The increase in self-harm was even higher among people held on remand, those recalled to prison, and those on sentences of Imprisonment for Public Protection, with the latter increasing 26 per cent on the previous year.
The figures show that 85 people in prison died in the 12 months to March 2024 in circumstances recorded as “self-inflicted.”
Howard League for Penal Reform chief executive Andrea Coomber said: “With the House of Lords due to debate relevant clauses in the Victims and Prisoners Bill next week, the figures are a timely reminder of the undue suffering of people trapped in prison on these sentences, and the urgent need for change.”
