Too Many People “Jailed Needlessly”

Too many people are being jailed unnecessarily, according to Labour peer Lord Harris, who is heading a review into prison suicides. His findings are expected to be presented next summer. Ahead of the report’s release however, Lord Harris said: “Obviously there will always be a core of prisoners who do need to be in prison.

But, if some of the others were not there, there would be more resources to make sure those individuals were supported and prison achieved its objectives in terms of rehabilitation”.

The Ministry of Justice says prison suicides in England and Wales have risen by 52% since 2011-12, with 87 inmates taking their own lives in the year to September 2012.