A record number of people have died while serving time in prison across Scotland in the last three years, according to a new report from Glasgow University.
Academics found there have been 121 fatalities since the start of 2020, with suicide and drugs deaths on the rise and the death rate higher than in England.
The report found that from September 2020 to this year there were 29 deaths from suicide, 25 from drugs (with a further eight whose cause is undetermined), 15 to coronavirus, 42 attributed to 'other' causes such as medical conditions and two homicides.
It compares to 98 deaths in Scottish prisons in the previous three full years. Researchers acknowledged the impact of covid, however said the rise in suicide and drugs fatalities had been the most significant.
Researchers from Glasgow University claim that while covid infections had an impact on numbers, it was the increase in deaths from suicide and drugs that had been the most significant.
According to the report authors someone who was imprisoned this year would be twice as likely to pass away in jail as someone who was sentenced in 2008.
Professor Sarah Armstrong, from Glasgow University and co-author of the report, said: "There are very few mandatory Covid restrictions affecting people outside prison, but these continue inside Scottish prisons, including reduced face-to-face visiting, less opportunities to spend time outside of cells, and fewer members of staffing. After many years of research, it is widely accepted that this kind of prolonged isolation causes significant mental distress.
"While the numbers of people dying in prisons remains deeply disturbing, the fact it has accelerated under these conditions and led to more deaths from causes associated with distress, despair and isolation such as suicide and drug-related deaths, is not surprising.
"We would therefore urge the Scottish Prison Service to take urgent action to lift those restrictions and make improving mental health a priority for those in prison."
The report also found that deaths from drugs and suicide in prisons were typically "from distress and loss of hope".
Scottish Lib Dems justice spokesperson Liam McArthur said families will feel "let down" by the findings of the report.
He said: "Today’s findings make for horrific reading. Families are being let down by a self-harm epidemic in Scottish prisons and the government’s dereliction of responsibility. Even as deaths spiral and the number of suicides and drugs-deaths climb, lessons are simply not being learned.
"This needs to stop. Scottish Liberal Democrats would rollout robust mental health provision across Scotland’s prisons and end the threats to wellbeing and lives.
"We would also introduce a deadline for the commencement of reviews into custodial deaths and a guarantee to families that they will receive necessary support when navigating legal proceedings."
A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said: “We recognise the profound emotional distress experienced by families when a loved one dies in custody.
“Our vision is for people within our care to have the best possible health and wellbeing and, where mental health problems do occur, that they get the respect, support, treatment, and care they require.
“We work closely with NHS partners to develop individualised plans, and provide contact with Samaritans, where trained Listeners provide additional support. Talk To Me, developed in partnership with experts in suicide prevention, provides person-centred care for those most at risk.
“We are working with partner agencies to deliver overdose awareness activities, recovery cafes, and wider support services.
“During the Covid pandemic we implemented a “Prison 2 Rehab” pathway, giving people access to rehabilitation programmes directly from the point of liberation.
“And the introduction of photocopying of mail has led to a significant fall in both incidents of drug-taking, and emergency ambulance calls related to substance misuse.
“We also have increasing numbers of older people in our care, with the same health and care challenges as seen in the wider community, and high levels of health inequalities faced by our population as a whole.”
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