Fears of self-harm epidemic in Scottish prisons
JUSTICE Secretary Michael Matheson has been warned of a “self-harm epidemic” in Scotland’s prisons after incidents jumped 70 per cent in three years.
Scottish Prison Service (SPS) figures show 1,512 self-harm incidents in prisons since 2013.
There were 287 incidents that year and the numbers have risen yearly, hitting 494 last year.
The figures were obtained by the Liberal Democrats under Freedom of Information laws and include self-harms, threats to selfharm and attempted suicides.
The Scottish Prison Service denied there was a self-harm “epidemic” and claimed the Scottish Government said improved ways of collecting information may have led to the “erroneous belief” that self-harm has increased. Lib Dem justice spokesman Liam McArthur has written to Matheson seeking urgent reform of prison mental health care. A Scottish Government said it takes mental and emotional wellbeing very seriously. A spokeswoman added: “We encourage any prisoners with thoughts of selfharm to speak to SPS so they can provide appropriate support.”
An SPS spokeswoman said there is “no self-harm epidemic.”