'Real concern': Prison deaths hit record with rate among highest in Europe

Yahoo

29-04-2025

A record number of people died in Scotland's prisons last year, according to major new research published today.
The study found there were 64 deaths in jails during 2024 - a 60% increase on the previous year when 40 prisoners died - making the country's prison mortality rate one of the highest in Europe, similar to rates in Azerbaijan and Moldova, where experts have highlighted corruption and torture in their prison systems.
Most of the deaths in Scottish prisons last year were due to health conditions, suicide or were drug related.
The annual report "Nothing to See Here? Deaths in Custody and their Investigation in Scotland in 2024" which is published today by the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research examined the number of people who had died while in prison, police custody, in mental health facilities, in immigration detention centres and in care settings for looked after children and young people.
It found that in total 244 people died in Scotland while detained in custody or under the control of the state in 2024, equivalent to more than four deaths per week. A total of 16 children and young people died in care.
READ MORE:
Riot fears amid record prisoner numbers and overcrowding
Scotland facing 'critical risk' from overcrowding in prisons
Read all articles in our Scotland's Prisons: Crisis Behind Bars series
A majority of the 244 deaths - 138 - occurred among those detained on mental health grounds, 19 were after police contact and a further three in police custody.
Three people died while detained in immigration centres, and one inpatient with learning disabilities died while living in hospital.
The report comes just weeks after a major week-long investigative series by The Herald examined prison overcrowding Scotland and how the crisis impacted on staff and prisoners, including hindering work to rehabilitate offenders.
Our paper reported on fears among prison governors of a new wave of rioting in the institutions, on drug problems in prisons, as well the rising cost to the public purse as the prison population continues to grow.
The Herald visited the new women's prison HMP Stirling (Image: Gordon Terris/The Herald) Professor Sarah Armstrong, who led the research team, underlined the sharp rise in prison deaths.
'Last year we reported there were 40 deaths in prisons in 2023 which has now surged to 64 in 2024. It is of real concern that the mortality rate in our prisons has more than doubled in the last decade and is now among the highest in Europe," she said.
"When we looked at international comparators our death rates are more like Azerbaijan and Moldova, where torture and corruption have been documented, than England and Wales.'
She added: 'The reasons behind the recent increase could both be due to the challenging physical environment of prison and the regimes inside it.
"Poor air quality, access to healthcare, extended periods of time being locked in cells and increased isolation from others, can all cause poor health, exacerbate existing conditions, and lead to a loss of hope.
'We also identified a recurring pattern in prison deaths with officers not completing cell checks adequately, health concerns of prisoners being treated by staff as drug seeking behaviour and signs of poor or declining mental health not being acted upon.
'Despite the Scottish Prison Service's commitment to learn from each death in custody, it is worrying to see deaths occurring in similar circumstances year after year.'
A Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) is mandatory after someone dies in prison or in police custody, however as the majority of the 244 deaths did not take place in those settings they will not be subject to such an inquiry.
The research study pointed out this meant very little is known publicly about the identities of the people who died and why they died.
The Procurator Fiscal may order a discretionary FAI where a death has been sudden or unexplained, or where families have called for one.
However in practice only a small number of discretionary FAIs are held.
While an FAI does not hold anyone accountable for a death, even where one is ruled to have been preventable, a sheriff may make "findings" that identify problems.
And in cases where FAIs are mandatory, loved ones had to wait on average of 3.5 years from the date of the death until the FAI determination was published, the study found. It revealed the longest wait - a death in police custody – was 10 years.
When internal reviews were carried out by NHS Scotland, the Scottish Prison Service, the National Hub or the Police Investigation and Review Commissioner (PIRC) researchers reported a wide variance in how involved families were and how transparent each organisation was in sharing their findings.
Co-author of today's report, Linda Allan, Honorary Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Glasgow, said she found the lack of transparency, access to data and accountability from institutions that were meant be looking after people, unacceptable.
'More than four people including children and young people die every week in this country while they are under the care of the state and it is unacceptable that in many cases we will never know what their names were, how they lived their lives, what led to their death and what these organisations are doing to stop it from happening again.
'We need independent, timely investigations for every death that occurs while someone is in the care of the state. We need to see robust data gathered, for internal reviews to be made public to ensure transparency, and for families to be included at every stage of the process. A Scotland where these things don't happen is a Scotland that doesn't care.'
The researchers found that numbers often didn't match for agencies reporting deaths of the same population.
Professor Armstrong stated: 'We can't even be sure the government knows who or how many are dying in their care.
She added: 'With this now being our fourth annual report, it seems we are further away than ever before from being the compassionate, progressive jurisdiction that the Scottish Government claims us to be.'
Data from the Scottish Prison Service revealed there were 14 suicides in the country's prisons last year, the same number as in 2019 and 2022.
A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said: 'Every death, whether in prison custody or in our communities, is a tragedy for all those who knew and supported the individual.
'We are determined to deliver systemic change, at pace, to how we support people in our care, in a way which will be enduring, transparent, and impactful."
The Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research is a collaboration between the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier, Stirling and Strathclyde. SCCJR aims to produce research that informs policy and practice and advances our understanding of justice.