§ Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many inquests into deaths in(a) police and (b) prison custody resulted in a verdict of neglect in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [83683]
§ Mr. DenhamThe Home Office publishes annual statistics of deaths in police custody or otherwise following contact with the police. There have been no inquest verdicts of neglect but a number where neglect has been a contributory factor, which are shown in the table.
591W
Year Total number of deaths in police custody Number of inquest verdicts where neglect was a contributory factor Inquest verdicts Inquest verdicts awaited 2. Non-dependent abuse of drugs aggravated by neglect 1999–2000 70 1 Accident contributed to by neglect 1 2000–01 53 1 Death by misadventure with contributory neglect 8 2001–02 70 0 54 The Prison Service has only been collecting data on neglect riders to inquest verdicts since the beginning of 2001. In that time there have been four inquest verdicts with neglect riders. All four verdicts were returned in 2002, three of them referring to deaths in 2001. This does not include one case of natural causes aggravated by self-neglect.