Female prisoners have a disproportionately high rate of poor mental health, according to research from the Prison Reform Trust.
Self-harm and suicide in prisons is appallingly high, and mental health treatment remains inadequate, despite the efforts of dedicated staff.
Prisoners going into custody with mental health problems often find their condition worsening; mentally healthy people often develop mental illness as a result of imprisonment.
Sadly, the charity’s research corresponds with my own personal experience in more than 25 years of criminal practice.
Martin Rackshaw appears in The Times discussing the mental heath of inmates during the coronavirus pandemic.
Inmates face a crisis of mental health is available to read on The Times website via subscription.
Martin is a partner in the fraud and criminal litigation team. He has been defending in serious and high profile cases for well over twenty years. He is ranked in both Chambers UK and The Legal 500 for both general crime and extradition and financial crime.