Question reference: S6W-02888
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 9 September 2021
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Current status: Answered by Keith Brown on 24 September 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many deaths in custody there have been in prisons in each of the last five years.
Answer
I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:
The number of deaths in custody in prisons over the past five years is detailed in the following table:
Calendar Year | Total number of deaths in custody |
2017 | 29 |
2018 | 32 |
2019 | 37 |
2020 | 34 |
2021 (Until 30 June 2021) | 26* |
*The next quarterly update will be published on the SPS website in October 2021.
All deaths in custody are published on the SPS website. This information is updated on a quarterly basis and can be accessed using the following link: https://www.sps.gov.uk/Corporate/Information/PrisonerDeaths.aspx .