Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody
We are an advisory non-departmental public body co-sponsored by the Ministry of Justice, the Home Office, and the Department of Health and Social Care with the central aim of preventing deaths in custody.
Death rates in prisons and under the Mental Health Act disproportionately high.
The IAPDC has published its latest statistical analysis of deaths in custody which finds that people in state detention are at a significantly increased risk of death compared with the general population, with the rates of deaths in prisons and Mental Health Act detention particularly high.
Statistics
- In the 12 months to March 2025, there were 399 deaths in prison custody. 91 of these deaths were self-inflicted.
- There were 12 deaths of offenders with residence in Approved Premises in 2023/24.
- Providers have notified the CQC that 225 people died while detained under the Mental Health Act between April 2023 and March 2024.
- In 2023/24, 24 people died in or following police custody. There were 68 apparent suicides during this same period.
- In 2023 there were two deaths of people detained under Immigration Act Powers.