Nearly 100 women die in prison over 11-year period due to ‘glaring failures’ by government, says report

The government has been accused of a “glaring failure” to act on deaths of women in custody as figures show almost 100 female inmates have died in just over a decade.

More than 10 years on from the Corston Report, which outlined the need for a more holistic and integrated approach to vulnerable women in the criminal justice system, there has been “little systemic change” as women “continue to die” in custody, according to a report by charity Inquest.

Ninety-three women have died in prison since the ground-breaking review by Baroness Jean Corston in 2007, with almost a quarter of these occurring in 2016 – making it the deadliest year on record. Of the 93 deaths in women’s prisons between March 2007 and March 2018, 37 were self-inflicted, 48 were non self-inflicted and 8 await classification.

The report, which is based on an examination of official data, casework and an analysis of coroners’ reports and jury findings, warns that women with histories of mental ill-health, domestic violence and poverty are being inappropriately imprisoned.

It reframes deaths in custody as a form of violence against women, given many women’s experiences of domestic violence, abuse and trauma, and identifies “serious safety failures” inside prisons around self-harm and suicide management and inadequate healthcare provision.

In a recent high-profile case highlighted in the report, an inquest concluded that prison staff failings contributed to the death of Emily Hartley, 21, who was found hanged in the grounds of HMP New Hall near Wakefield in April 2016.

Ms Hartley had a history of serious mental ill health and it was her first time in jail, where she was serving a sentence for arson after setting herself on fire in her bedroom. It took prison staff two-and-a-half hours to notice she had gone missing and find her body, despite the fact that she should have been checked every 30 minutes, the jury heard.

In another shocking case, a jury found that neglect contributed to the death of Natasha Evans, 34, who died after collapsing in her cell at HMP Eastwood Park in November 2013. The expert evidence confirmed that, had she received appropriate care, she would have survived.

Baroness Corston told The Independent: “I’m appalled. We’ve had 30 per cent cuts in prison staff, we have women in our prisons who are recognised as mentally ill, who ought not to be prison at all. And the staff are often not experienced to deal with them.

“The majority of women in prisons today are troubled rather than troublesome. Yet they are routinely discharged from prison with nowhere to go – they are just given a sleeping bag. The rate at which they commit suicide once they leave prison is horrendous. The system does not work.

“There were huge strides forward in the year after my review, but now the figures now are even worse than they were then. I get impression ministers are no longer committed to it. It breaks my heart to see it all being undone through wilful ignorance.”

In a series of recommendations, the report states that the money currently spent on running female prisons should be redirected from criminal justice to welfare, health, housing and social care, which it says would help divert women away from jail.

It also calls on a halt to prison building and a commitment to an “immediate reduction” in the prison population, as well as a urgent review of the deaths of women following release from prison and a review of sentencing decisions and policy.

Deborah Coles, executive director of Inquest, said: “Since the Corston Review there has been little systemic change and for far too many women, prison remains a disproportionate and inappropriate response.

“The persistence and repetition of the same issues over an 11-year period reveals nothing less than a glaring failure of government to act. While ministers continue to drag their heels on the women’s justice strategy, which was due in 2017, women continue to die.

“Government must work across health, social care and justice departments to dismantle failing women’s prisons and invest in specialist women’s services.”

Commenting, Marylin Goldring, mother of Sarah Reed, who died in HMP Holloway in 2016, said: “If Sarah had received the right care and support, rather than punishment, then she would still be alive. The whole system has to change so that other women don’t die.”

A separate report published in December showed the majority (57 per cent) of female inmates had been victims of domestic violence, while 53 per cent had experienced emotional, physical or sexual abuse as a child.

Figures published last year meanwhile showed women were disproportionately hit with prison sentences of less than one month, leading campaigners to condemn the “ridiculous overuse” of incarceration for minor offences.

One in four women sent to jail in 2016 – more than 1,500 – were sentenced to 30 days or less, with almost 300 of them put behind bars for under two weeks.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The levels of suicide and self-harm in our prisons are far too high and we are taking urgent action to address this.

“We want to divert women from custody wherever possible and are working closely with other services including healthcare and housing to do that. Where this isn’t appropriate and prison is necessary - we want to provide high standards of care.

“We have already passed our target to recruit an additional 2,500 prison officers by the end of 2018 – this is crucial to give staff more time to support individual prisoners, including early mental health interventions.”