Latest Safety in Prison Custody Statistics, England and Wales

There were 310 deaths in prison custody in the 12 months to June 2018, down 2% from the previous year. Of these, 5 were homicides, up from 2 incidents in the previous year. There were 77 self-inflicted deaths, down from 99 in the previous year, 3 of which occurred in the female estate, compared to 6 incidents in the previous 12 months.

In the 12 months to March 2018, there were 46,859 incidents of self-harm, up 16% from the previous year. The number of self-harming individuals increased by 8% to 11,854. Quarterly self-harm incidents rose by 2% to 12,045 incidents.

There were 31,025 assault incidents in the 12 months to March 2018, up 16% from the previous year. In the 12 months to March 2018, there were 3,926 serious assaults, up 9% from the previous year. Both of these figures are the highest in the time series. In the most recent quarter, assaults increased by 6% to 8,243 incidents.

There were 22,374 prisoner-on-prisoner assaults in the 12 months to March 2018, up 16% from the previous year. Of these, 3,081 (14%) were serious assaults, an increase of 9% in the number of serious incidents from the previous year. Both figures are record highs. Prisoner-on-prisoner assaults saw an increase of 6% in the latest quarter, with 5,901 incidents.

There were 9,003 assaults on staff in the 12 months to March 2018, up 26% from the previous year. There has been a change in how these incidents are recorded since April 2017 which may have contributed to the increase. See the guide for more information. Of these, 892 were serious assaults on staff, up 11 % from the previous year. In the latest quarter the number of assaults on staff increased by 4% to a new record high of 2,427 incidents.