§ Mrs. RocheTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many attempted suicides took place in each prison in(a) 1979, (b) 1985, (c) 1990 and (d) the last year for which figures are available; and how many of those attempts resulted in death. [16199]
§ Mr. Michael Forsyth[holding answer 28 March 19951: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mrs. Barbara Roche, dated 31 March 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about attempted suicides and attempted suicides which resulted in deaths.The information is set out in the table below:
Year 1979 1984–851 1989–902 1991–92 Self-harm with suicidal intent 300 402 398 805 I regret that detailed records on self-harm are not available centrally for individual establishments and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
It is difficult to distinguish between self-harm incidents with or without suicidal intent. For this reason, prisons have not been asked to make this classification since 1992 and the figures above should be treated with caution.
Year 1979 1984–851 1989–902 1991–92 Self-inflicted deaths 29 37 43 43 1 In 1984 self-harm figures began to be collected in financial years and cannot be split into calender years. Therefore, the 1984–85 figure covers 15 months from 1 January 1984 to 31 March 1985. The last two figures in the table cover the same period. 2 The figures for 1989–90 and 1991–92 cover the period 1 April to 31 March. The attached tables give a breakdown of deaths for each establishment, copies of which will be placed in the Library of the House.
860W
Breakdown of deaths resulting from self-harm by establishment, number of incidents and verdict for the year 1979 Establisment Number of incidents Verdict Gartree 1 Suicide Wormwood Scrubs 2 Suicide Dartmoor 1 Suicide Wandsworth 2 Suicide Wandsworth 1 Open Brixton 5 Suicide Pentonville 1 Misadventure Pentonville 1 Suicide Haverigg 1 Misadventure Lincoln 2 Suicide Bristol 1 Misadventure Brockhill 1 Open Huntercoombe 1 Misadventure Liverpool 2 Suicide Liverpool 1 Accidental Liverpool 1 Misadventure Shrewsbury 1 Suicide Winchester 1 Suicide Leeds 1 Suicide Lewes 1 Suicide Stafford 1 Suicide
Breakdown of deaths resulting from self-harm, by establishment, number of incidents and verdict for the financial year 1984–1985
(1 April to 31 March)
Establishment Number of incidents Verdict Wormwood Scrubs 2 Suicide Swansea 1 Suicide Swansea 2 Misadventure Pentonville 3 Suicide Brixton 5 Suicide Durham 2 Suicide Norwich 2 Suicide Bristol 1 Misadventure Exeter 3 Suicide Leicester 2 Suicide Shrewsbury 1 Suicide Lewes 1 Suicide Wakefield 1 Suicide Wandsworth 1 Suicide Birmingham 1 Suicide Parkhurst 2 Suicide Leeds 1 Suicide Leeds 1 Open Winchester 1 Misadventure Preston 1 Suicide Portsmouth 1 Suicide Liverpool 1 Accidental Death Holloway 1 Open
861W
Breakdown of deaths resulting from self-harm, by establishment, number of incidents and verdict for the year 1989–90 (April—31 March) Establishment Number of incidents Verdict Littlehey 1 Suicide Brixton 4 Open Brixton 2 Accidental death Brixton 2 Suicide Lewes 1 Suicide Dartmoor 1 Suicide Winchester 1 Suicide Winchester 1 Open Risley 1 Open Manchester 5 Suicide Stafford 1 Suicide Exeter 1 Suicide Lancaster 1 Suicide
Breakdown of deaths resulting from self-harm, by establishment, number of incidents and verdict for the year 1989–90
(1 April—31 March)
Establishment Number of incidents Verdict Rochester 2 Suicide Wormwood Scrubs 1 Suicide Garth 1 Suicide Cardiff 1 Accidental death Shepton Mallet 1 Suicide Bristol 3 Suicide Canterbury 1 Suicide Hindley 2 Suicide Swansea 1 Suicide Leeds 1 Suicide Long Lartin 1 Suicide Liverpool 1 Open Bedford 1 Suicide Camphill 1 Suicide Pentonville 1 Misadventure Durham 1 Suicide Glen Parva 1 Suicide
Breakdown of deaths resulting from self-harm by establishment, number of incidents and verdict for the year 1991–92
(1 April–31 March)
Establishment Number of incidents Verdict Oxford 1 Accidental Garth 1 Suicide Leeds 1 Open Leeds 1 Suicide Liverpool 2 Suicide Brixton 1 Suicide Featherstone 1 Suicide Wormwood Scrubs 1 Open Durham 2 Suicide Pentonville 2 Suicide Pentonville 1 Open Parkhurst 1 Suicide Full Sutton 1 Misadventure Grendon 2 Suicide Manchester 1 Suicide Birmingham 3 Suicide Preston 1 Suicide Dorchester 2 Open Wakefield 1 Suicide Feltham 2 Suicide Feltham 1 Accidental death Feltham 1 Open Nottingham 1 Suicide Glen Parva 2 Suicide Cardiff 1 Suicide Winchester 1 Suicide Haverigg 1 Open Stafford 1 Open Norwich 1 Misadventure Norwich 1 Suicide Stoke Heath 1 Suicide Long Lartin 1 Suicide Hull 1 Suicide Bristol 1 Suicide