More Styal prisoners are self-harming

Mar 31 2008 by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post

INCIDENTS of self-harm at a Cheshire women’s prison have rocketed by 252% in recent years, new figures reveal.

There were 1,324 reported incidents of self-harm at Styal Prison in 2007 – up from 376 in 2003. In the years between, there were 1,061 counts in 2004, 1,416 in 2005 and a peak of 1,581 in 2006.

The figures have been released as part of a Parliamentary Answer to a question put to the Government by the Liberal Democrats.

The party’s justice spokesman, David Howarth, described the statistics as “a national disgrace”.

He said: “The serious problems faced by women in our prisons have been ignored for far too long.

“Their numbers have doubled in the last decade, despite no corresponding rise in women committing serious crime.

“Prison is not the right place for female offenders who pose no threat to the public.”

Pauline Campbell, whose 18-year-old daughter Sarah died after taking an overdose at Styal in 2003, said the increase was “alarming”.

She told the Daily Post: “Women’s prisons continue to struggle with overcrowding and 70% of women in them have two or more diagnosable psychiatric disorders, which means that prisons are struggling to cope, as are the prisoners themselves.

“I feel this is reflected in this huge increase in the number of self-harm incidents.”

The Corsten report into women’s prisons, which was handed to the Government last March, gave a number of recommendations which Ms Campbell believes should be implemented immediately.

She added: “The report recommends large women’s prisons such as Styal should be closed and replaced with small custodial units near to the woman’s home, and that those should be reserved just for women who are a danger to security.

“The remainder, ie, non-violent offenders, should be dealt with by the issuing of community sentences.

“If we implement these recommendations, I believe that women’s deaths in prison would become a thing of the past.”

According to the Ministry of Justice, the rise in incidents of self-harm is attributable to a more effective reporting system.

A spokesperson said: “According to our figures, female self-harm incidents have risen by 48% between 2003 and 2007.

“The significant increase in the number of prisoner self-harm incidents can be attributed to the introduction, in 2002, of the a new form for recording self-harms [that] introduced a more thorough and robust reporting system.

“This new form and improved staff training led establishments to become more effective at reporting leading to a marked increase in self-harm incidents between then and the present.”

Last night, no-one at Styal prison was available to comment.

vickyanderson