
The number of distress calls made by prisoners to a mental health helpline has soared by 60% in just two years, new figures have revealed.
Data obtained by the PA news agency under freedom of information (FOI) laws shows that calls to Samaritans’ dedicated prison line rose from 266,076 in 2019 to 329,799 in 2020, and again to 424,509 in 2021.