HMP Woodhill: Three die in 16 days at 'unsafe' prison

HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes holds about 600 men

Three inmates at a prison criticised for its safety have died within 16 days of each other.

Mark Culverhouse, Philip Green and Kevin Iverson were all inmates at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes.

Mr Culverhouse, 29, died in hospital on 24 April while Mr Green, 53, and Mr Iverson, 51, died in custody on 30 April and 9 May respectively.

The Ministry of Justice said: "The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will hold independent investigations."

Last year, a report said "almost one in three prisoners felt unsafe" at the Buckinghamshire jail.

HM Inspectorate of Prisons said the prison was "still not safe enough" in a 2018 report

HMP Woodhill holds about 600 men, mainly remand prisoners and those serving short sentences, alongside a small number of category A high-security prisoners.

In the five years to 2017, it was the prison with the highest suicide rate in England and Wales.

An inspection of the prison in 2018 said there were "chronic and substantial" staff shortages.

The HM Inspectorate of Prisons said the prison was "still not safe enough" after a critical report three years earlier.

"At the time we inspected, eight prisoners had taken their own lives since our previous inspection in 2015 and, staggeringly, 19 prisoners had taken their own lives at the establishment since 2011," the report said.

"Tragically, a few months after this inspection another prisoner was reported to have taken his own life."