Letter: Why prisons should exercise restraint

Sir: Heather Mills reported the 'remarkable improvement at Brixton jail' found by the prison inspectors last year (6 August). The Howard League welcomes these improvements but would like to issue a note of warning.

Two men have taken their own lives in Brixton prison recently. One man hanged himself in February of this year. A 27-year-old man hanged himself in Brixton prison on 19 December last year. Seventeen prisoners have taken their own lives in Brixton prison during the last four years. The two most recent show that the problems of Brixton have not been solved. The closure of F wing is something that the Howard League called for repeatedly. But we suggested that mentally ill people should not be held in prisons at all. What has happened is that they have simply been redistributed around London prisons.

Staffing levels at Brixton have been increased to help produce the transformation found by the inspectors. Staffing levels at other prisons across London have not been increased commensurately. The major factor in improving conditions at a busy local prison like Brixton, must always be a significant drop in numbers. Your report pointed out that Brixton often used to contain 1,150 prisoners, with places for only 750.

In this country we grossly over- use prison. The mentally ill, children, pregnant women and petty offenders are locked up in places like Brixton and come out more embittered and unemployable. No wonder 17 of them have got so desperate that they decided the only way out was to take their own lives.

Yours,

FRANCES CROOK

Director

The Howard League

London, N19