Deaths in Prison Custody in Scotland 2012-2022

5. Deaths in prison custody 2012-2022

Between 2012 and 2022, 350 people died whilst in prison custody in Scotland – an average of 31.8 deaths per year. As shown in Figure 4, the number of deaths in custody has risen overall across the 11-year period, with the highest number of deaths in any year (53) recorded in 2021.

Rate of death in custody

Given the fluctuations in prison population size and the numbers of individuals experiencing imprisonment, it is difficult to make comparisons over time using the number of deaths alone. 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). Deaths that were published on the SPS website but occurred either prior to 1^st April 2012 or after 31^st March 2022 are therefore omitted from this analysis.

Figure 5 shows that while both rates have fluctuated over the time period considered, both have been rising overall. The rate of death per 1,000 average daily population was 2.12 in 2012-13 but had trebled to 6.40 in 2021-22. 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 rate of death appears 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. In these two 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, while the number of deaths was at an increased level.