Town prisons buck national suicide trend (From Warrington Guardian)

Town prisons buck national suicide trend

PRISON reform campaigners have warned that the Government needs to take action to reduce the number of suicides in custody.

But figures released by the Howard League for Penal Reform on Tuesday have shown that no prisoners committed suicide at Risley Prison or Thorn Cross Young Offenders Institution during the past year.

Risley Prison has improved its record since one prisoner took his own life in 2002, while there have been no suicides at Thorn Cross to date.

While the total number of prison suicides in England and Wales remains the same at 94, the figures also show that a record number of 14 women committed suicide in prisons during 2003.

This includes four women at Styal Prison in Wilmslow, which has seen the most suicides of all women's jails.

Claire McCarthy, policy and campaigns officer at the Howard League, said: "We are particularly concerned about Styal.

"We are now awaiting the prisons ombudsman's report into the deaths at the prison and are disappointed that it has not been published sooner."

The Howard League believes that far too many women are imprisoned unnecessarily.

"The majority of women prisoners are not violent and many have pre-existing mental health conditions," Ms McCarthy said. "It is reckless and extremely dangerous to put these women into custody."