Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
HIDDEN HORRORS OF DEATH BEHIND BARS Health experts call for more help for inmates in our prisons
18 suicides and thousands of self-harming incidents in 5yrs
EIGHTEEN prisoners have died and thousands have self-harmed in Ulster’s jails, a Mirror investigation has found.
Mental health professionals believe more must be done to enable inmates to access the help they need after a Freedom Of Information request revealed the alarming statistics.
The court service provided official figures relating to deaths since 2012 in Maghaberry, Magilligan and Hydebank.
The latest occurred on August 4 when a 27-year-old man was confirmed dead at Magilligan.
Fourteen fatalities have taken place at the high-security Maghaberry, and the other four at Magilligan.
The coroner is still investigating 14 cases while another four inquests have been closed, with the cause of death in two already confirmed.
A NI Prison Service spokesman said: “The figures relating to incidents of selfharm demonstrate the challenges facing some of the people in our care.
“It is important the Prison Service record all such incidents, however, these vary in severity and many are treated through first aid and require no further medical attention.
“There has been a reduction in the number of self-harm incidents since 2014 and the NI Prison Service continues to take its duty of care for prisoners extremely seriously.” The figures revealed there have been 3,855 incidents of selfharming –more than two every day – two-thirds of them in Maghaberry.
The Co Antrim prison was condemned as “unsafe and unstable” in a report last February.
Nick Hardwick, chief inspector of Prisons in England and Wales, described it as “one of the worst prisons I’ve ever seen and the most dangerous I’ve been to”.
Understaffing has been cited as an impacting issue, with almost 200 staff cut in four years.
On April 1, 2013, there were 1,206 people working in our jails. That total had dropped to 1,020 on the same date this year.
The Prison Service spokesman added: “The needs of the prison population are complex and, in comparison with wider society, there are a disproportionately high number of people who come into prison with mental health problems which can include self-harming.
“It is impossible to say how many lives have been saved by prison officers identifying at-risk prisoners and managing them successfully until they are safe from self-harming behaviour.”
He said the service, along with its partners in South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, will continue to assess and support vulnerable people during “periods of crisis”.
The trust said work is being done to reduce suicides and self-harming within the jail population. A spokeswoman added: “The issues raised are complex and the needs of individuals committed to prison require close collaboration between prison and healthcare staff to address the environmental and wider societal factors impacting on emotional health and well-being.
“South Eastern Trust provides a range of physical health and mental health services to people committed to prison, including access to appropriate medication. “Prison healthcare staff also work in close collaboration with all health and social care trusts regionally and Shannon medium secure unit.
“There is a process in place to
BELFAST YESTERDAY
facilitate transfer of any individual requiring specialist inpatient treatment at Shannon or mental health inpatient units regionally.
“The Prison Service and South-eastern Trust have developed a joint self-harm and suicide prevention strategy to support collaborative working and improve support to prisoners who selfharm.”
However, Nexus NI believes inmates should have access to specialist services.
Chief executive Cara Cash said: “Anyone can be a victim of some form of sexual violence.
“Nexus NI is committed to supporting victims of sexual violence wherever they are in Northern Ireland, including prisons.
“We have previously delivered our counselling, education and training services within prisons in the province and are currently trying to identify means of widening these services.
“The figures presented around incidents of self-harming are, of course, concerning and more must be done to make sure prisoners who need specialist services have the opportunity to access them appropriately.
“This is why working with specialist organisations such as Nexus is vitally important, these partnerships will deliver improved mental health for those accessing the services they offer.”