§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many people over and under 21 respectively died in 1997 in the custody of the Prison Service in England and Wales; the Prison Service in Scotland; the police in England and Wales; the police in Scotland; the special hospitals in England and Wales and the Armed Forces respectively; how many of the deaths in each of these cases were self inflicted; and what proportion each of these figures represented of 255WA the average number in custody during the year in each of these classes of establishment.[HL48]
§ Lord Williams of MostynThe available information is as follows:
Deaths in Custody in 1997 Over 21 21 and under Total Prison Service (England and Wales) 97 (self-inflicted 53) 18 (self-inflicted 17) 115 Prison Service (Scotland) 16 (self-inflicted 11) 3 (self-inflicted 3) 19 Police Service (England and Wales) April 1996—March 1997 53 (self-inflicted 8) 4 (self-inflicted 2) 157 Police Service (Scotland) 10 (self-inflicted I) I (self-inflicted 0) 111 High Security Hospitals (England and Wales) 14 (self-inflicted 3) Nil 14 Armed Forces Nil Nil Nil 1Includes deaths in custody outside the police station. Information on the average daily population in the custody of each of these services in 1997 is not readily available, but deaths in custody obviously represent a minute proportion of the total figures.