United Kingdom
Europe
Discipline
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
United Kingdom
The number of people dying in prison in Scotland surged to a record number of 64 in 2024, a 60 per cent increase on the previous year, prompting grave concern from experts who warned that the nation’s prison mortality rate is among the highest in Europe.
Europe
Social ties
Rehabilitation
United Kingdom
A charity has appealed for more volunteers to get involved with its transport scheme, to help families of people in prison maintain contact.
Pre-trial detention
Europe
Mental health
Suicide
United Kingdom
Jordan Burns made several attempts to take his own life during 10 months as an unconvicted person on remand at Scotland’s HMP Addiewell before he suffered an overdose whilst alone in his cell. His grieving mother Janice is suing the prison so it “never happens again”.
Europe
Material conditions
Social ties
United Kingdom
HM Inspectorate of Prisons has identified the issue as one of those which frustrate incarcerated people’s efforts to resolve everyday issues such as requests for extra toilet rolls for a cell, making an appointment to speak to staff in another department and applying for courses or prison jobs.
Women
Europe
Mental health
Material conditions
Social ties
United Kingdom
Women in prison will be given access to hairdryers, hair straighteners and salons in a drive to reduce levels of self-harm. The equipment will be available for loan on wings.
Europe
Facilities
Overcrowding
Alternatives
United Kingdom
The site, described by critics as a ‘megaprison,’ is equipped with solar panels and heat pump technology and is the first prison of this kind in the UK. It is one of Britain’s biggest prisons, and is part of a plan to tackle the serious overcrowding.
Europe
Access to legal rights
Drugs
United Kingdom
A former imprisoned person who died of drug poisining a day after being released should have been given a drug overdose kit, an investigation has found.
Europe
Suicide
Overcrowding
Violence
Activities
United Kingdom
Overcrowding is a trigger for poor performances in prisons, says a research document produced by the Institute for Government. It calls for increased education and training for imprisoned people, and the introduction of a minimum standard of provision.
Women
Europe
Material conditions
Social ties
Rehabilitation
United Kingdom
The Lilias Centre, in the Maryhill area of Glasgow, is part of a multimillion-pound experiment to tackle reoffending through rehabilitation. They give incarcerated women greater freedoms than traditional prisons and prepare them for life in the community after their sentence.
Women
Europe
Justice
Mental health
Suicide
United Kingdom
A new HM Inspectorate of Prisons report on HMP Styal found that 39 women had been sent to the prison due to their “acute vulnerabilities and the absence of specialised support in the community.”
Women
Europe
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Violence
Social ties
United Kingdom
Most women in jail have been victims of more serious crimes than they themselves have committed, writes Andrea Coomber. We’ve known how to tackle this crisis for almost 20 years – now it’s time to put it into action.
Women
Europe
Minors
Health
Mental health
Alternatives
United Kingdom
Pregnant women should not be sent to jail unless it is “unavoidable”, according to new sentencing guidelines. The guidance, published by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales, has been hailed by campaigners as a huge milestone.
United Kingdom: report critical of prison's 'limited' support for neurodiverse incarcerated people
News
Europe
Mental health
Rehabilitation
United Kingdom
An inspection of Jersey’s only prison has led to concerns being raised about a lack of support for neurodiverse incarcerated people. The report found that while 23 people had been identified as neurodivergent, few had care plans in place, and staff awareness of how to support them was “weak”.
Women
Europe
Health
United Kingdom
The Ministry of Justice is investigating claims by two incarcerated female that they were handcuffed to male officers during labour, antenatal appointments, and intimate vaginal examinations. The alleged incidents occurred between 2021 and 2023 at HMP Bronzefield in west London.
Europe
Access to legal rights
Justice
United Kingdom
I would like to share the plight of the protesters that are being sent to prison. I am currently on remand for an alleged action as part of the group Palestine Action, which takes action against arms companies that make millions from the death and destruction of innocent people’s lives in Palestine…
Women
Europe
Health
Mental health
Alternatives
United Kingdom
Figures obtained through freedom of information (FoI) requests to NHS trusts providing healthcare to women’s prisons in England found 12% of women receiving care relating to pregnancy in 2023 were diagnosed with the condition, triple the national figure of 4%.
Women
Europe
Mental health
Suicide
Violence
United Kingdom
Prison is not a place of safety. For women especially, it is a place of chaos and trauma where vulnerable people struggle to maintain their dignity, let alone sanity.
United Kingdom: ‘I stole a mobile phone almost 20 years ago – I’ve spent half my life in prison’
News
Europe
Long-term prisoners
Justice
Mental health
Suicide
Violence
United Kingdom
A father who stole a mobile phone when he was in the grips of a drug addiction is still languishing in prison almost 20 years later under an “inhumane” indefinite jail term.
Europe
Justice
Health
Mental health
Suicide
Overcrowding
United Kingdom
Four in ten incarcerated people who took their own lives in custody were denied adequate healthcare before their deaths, according to damning new figures exposing the scale of neglect inside Britain’s overcrowded prisons.