Deaths in Prison Custody in Scotland 2012-2022

Key Points

This report marks the first publication on data and evidence produced by the Deaths in Prison Custody Action Group (DiPCAG) which was set up to provide independent oversight and leadership to the implementation of all the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Response to Deaths in Prison Custody. An Understanding and Preventing Deaths in Prison working group was established under the DiPCAG. One of the aims of the working group has been to undertake a comprehensive review into the main causes of deaths in prison custody by analysing available data on deaths in prison custody in Scotland, as well as to identify and implement improvements to the data and evidence that exists.

The report provides an overview of all prisoner deaths in Scotland over the period 2012 to 2022 based on data published by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS). The analysis includes information on the number of deceased, causes, prison establishment of death, as well as personal characteristics of the individuals deceased. The insights from this report also allow us to make observations on how deaths in custody have changed over the course of the period analysed.

The analysis shows that:

• Between 2012 and 2022, 350 people died whilst in prison custody in Scotland. This is an average of 31.8 deaths per year.
• The number of deaths in prison custody per year increased between 2012 and 2022, with the highest number of annual deaths recorded in 2021 (53).
• Drawing on the national statistics on the prison population, it is possible to estimate the rate of death in prison custody per 1,000 population based upon both the total number of individuals that experienced imprisonment at any point during the year, and the average daily prison population. To do this, only deaths occurring in the full financial years of data that match the time periods covered by the national statistics are considered (i.e. 2012-13 to 2021-22, 306 deaths in total).
• While both measures of death rates have fluctuated over the time period considered, both have been rising overall. The estimated rate of death per 1,000 average daily population was 2.12 in 2012-13, trebling to 6.40 in 2021-22. Similarly, the rate of death per 1,000 individuals experiencing imprisonment more than trebled over the same period, rising from 0.85 in 2012-13 to 3.33 in 2021-22.
• The increase in rates of deaths appear most pronounced across 2020-21 and 2021-22, years impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Accordingly, the pandemic may be a factor in the recorded rate of death in custody. During these years, both the total number of individuals that experienced imprisonment at any point during the year and average daily prison population were also much lower than pre-pandemic levels, which may also be a factor in the higher estimated rates of death in these years.
• Of the 306 people who died between 2012-13 and 2021-22, 96% or 294 were men and 4% or 12 were women. This proportion broadly mirrors the gender split in the overall prison population. The small number of deaths amongst women makes analysing any differences in deaths in prison custody by gender difficult.
• In terms of death rates per 1,000 population over the time period analysed, the pattern observed for men largely mirrors the pattern observed when looking at the overall prison population. As men account for most of the deaths occurring this is to be expected. Given the small number of deaths amongst women, the rates observed for women fluctuate considerably over the time period analysed.
• The official national prison population statistics show a changing age profile of the average daily prison population over time. The long term trend is a decline in the number of young people and younger adults, while the number of people aged 35 and above has been increasing. The average age of prisoners has increased from 31.8 years in 2010-11 to 36.9 years in 2021-22, and the proportion of prisoners aged 55 or over has more than doubled in the last decade rising from 3.5% to 8.1%. The single largest number of deaths in prison custody occurred in the ‘55+ years’ age group (96), followed by the ‘45-54 years’ age group (79).
• While there is a degree of fluctuation, the rate of death per 1,000 average daily population has remained low for the youngest age groups (16-44 years collectively) over the time period analysed. The rate of death per 1,000 average daily population has been substantially higher for the older age groups, with noticeable spikes in the rates for 2020-21 (55+ years group) and 2021-22 (45-54 years group). As stated above, these are years impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
• When assessing deaths in prison custody by legal status, the majority of deaths occurred in the sentenced population. Over the period 2012-13 to 2021-22, around 76% of deaths in custody were amongst those who were serving a custodial sentence and just under a quarter of the people who died in custody were being held on remand. This is broadly in line with the overall proportion of the prison population.
• The rate of death in prison custody by legal status has varied over time. The rate across the remand population spiked between 2015-16 and 2018-19 and was considerably higher than that for the sentenced population. However, the rate of death increased substantially in the sentenced population across 2020-21 and 2021-22.
• Between 2012 to 2022, there were 17 prison establishments operating in Scotland. These establishments hold different prison populations which have varying housing requirements. Therefore, the age, gender and legal status profile of prisoners varies by establishment.
• Prison establishments also differ in capacity, so the number of individuals housed in each varies considerably. For example, the average daily population in HMP Inverness was 110 in 2021-22 whereas the average daily population in HMP Barlinnie was over 10 times that figure at 1,215. The analysis shows that the highest number of deaths in prison custody have occurred in the larger prisons. However, in any given year, the number of deaths per prison establishment is small.
• In line with the small and scattered distribution of deaths in custody by prison establishment in any given year, it is hard to discern a clear pattern in differences in deaths rates across establishments. As per the overall pattern of deaths occurring, there appears to be a higher rate of death occurring in some establishments in more recent years but there are no clear trends emerging.
• SPS publish the cause of death for every death occurring in prison custody. In 2019, the way in which cause of death was collected and published was amended. To allow comparison of cause of death over time, SPS analysts have attributed cause of death to one of three broad categories across the time series. The categories are: intentional self-harm; poisonings; and other deaths, this category includes disease, illness, natural causes and homicide.
• Of the 350 deaths recorded between 2012 and 2022, the majority (57% or 199) were classified within the ‘other deaths’ category (3 of the 199 were recorded as homicide, whilst the remainder were attributed to disease, illness and natural causes). 29% (103) occurred due to intentional self-harm and 14% (48) were attributed to poisonings.
• Looking at the cause of deaths by year, shows that in most years (with the exception of 2016 and 2017) deaths attributed to disease, illness and natural causes accounted for the majority of deaths in prison custody. Deaths attributed to these causes also appear to have increased across 2020-2022 – a period impacted by the pandemic.
• Deaths attributed to ‘poisonings’ (deaths where any drugs were mentioned in the cause of death) comprise a small number of deaths in most years (except 2015), although there was a spike in deaths by ‘poisonings’ in 2021. The number subsequently reduced in 2022.
• There is no clear trend in the number of deaths attributed to ‘intentional self-harm’ (deaths where hanging, suspension by ligature or asphyxia were mentioned in the cause of death) which has fluctuated between 4 and 14 per year across the time period analysed.
• Of the 350 deaths in prison custody that occurred over the period 2012 to 2022, around half (173) occurred within 1 year of the individual entering their most recent prison establishment. 25 individuals died within 7 days of entering their most recent prison establishment, and a further 35 within 30 days.
• SPS record the residential address and postcode (where available) of each individual who enters custody. This information is held for 320 of the 350 individuals who died in prison custody over the period 2012-2022. Of these, 149 arrived in custody from an address within the most deprived areas of Scotland – SIMD quintile 1. This is comparable to the composition of the prison population at large.