Post-custody deaths: Prison boss calls meeting

Ronnie Armour is Director General of the Northern Ireland Prison Service

The head of the Northern Ireland Prison Service is to hold a meeting with criminal justice agencies to address the number of post-custody deaths.

BBC News NI reported on Monday that 23 people died in Northern Ireland within a fortnight of being released from jail in the past five years.

A further 23 people also died in custody between 2014 and 2019.

Many of the deaths are linked to substance addiction.

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Northern Ireland Prison Service Director General, Ronnie Armour, is to hold "a round-table discussion" with the NI Probation Board, the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, the NI Court Service and the prisoner ombudsman on the issue.

Prison Ombudsman Dr Lesley Carroll said she was not fully informed about post-custody deaths

The figures were provided by the prisoner ombudsman's office who said the majority of the deaths were 'self-inflicted' - most of those were drug and alcohol related.

'Badly let down'

Ombudsman, Dr Lesley Carroll, had called for more to be done to ensure ex-inmates have access to services such as GPs, addiction support and housing.

Dr Carroll said she welcomed the decision by the director general to hold a meeting and hoped it would "build a picture of challenges to be addressed for post release prisoners".

The Probation Board for Northern Ireland said it works with offenders to "minimise risk, both to themselves and to others".

In an interview with BBC News NI, the family of one prisoner from west Belfast, who died in hospital after attempting to take his own life, said he had been "badly let down" by the authorities.

Approximately 80% of prisoners in Maghaberry Prison, Northern Ireland's largest jail, are on prescription medication.

In recent years, a number of critical reports have said that more needs to be done to protect vulnerable prisoners and to prevent deaths in custody in Northern Ireland.

A key role of the prisoner ombudsman's office is to investigate prison deaths, but it also has the discretion to investigate deaths that occur 14 days after someone is released from prison.

The South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust oversees prison healthcare in Northern Ireland and said it recognises the "increased risk" when people go into or leave jail.