Custody deaths should be prevented, says forum

Some of the 600 deaths that occur in custody could and should have been prevented, according to a new report.

The Forum for Preventing Deaths in Custody, in its first annual report, says there is a need for a more robust and joined-up approach to information-sharing between agencies to ensure important information about people who may be at risk is shared quickly and accurately between them.
The work of the forum includes deaths of people in prison, police stations, immigration detention and secure mental hospitals. It also focuses on those who have been released from custody and are under supervision of the Probation Service.

Forum chairman, John Wadham, says: “The forum welcomes this review as the current lack of resources has made the group’s task a difficult one. We have not been able to conduct or commission research into any of the issues we believe are worthy of it, and we have no capacity to monitor or report on the recommendations that may be made as result of investigations, inspections or inquests.

Ministry of Justice minister Maria Eagle says: “There are clearly lessons arising from many of the deaths in custody each year and the forum plays an important part in helping organisations to learn from these.”