Scotland's prison death rate among highest in Europe after 'worrying' spike, researchers warn

The number of people dying in prison in Scotland surged to a record number of 64 in 2024, a 60 per cent increase on the previous year, prompting grave concern from experts who warned that the nation’s prison mortality rate is among the highest in Europe.

In a damning report scrutinising deaths in custody across the nation last year, researchers warned that the rate in prisons had more than doubled over the course of the past decade, and was now more comparable to countries such as Azerbaijan and Moldova, where torture and corruption have been documented, than England and Wales.

The academics from the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR) said such an increase was of “real concern,” and pointed to a “recurring pattern” in prison deaths with officers not completing adequate cell checks adequately, and health concerns of prisoners being treated “drug seeking behaviour”.

The team from the SCCJR, a collaboration between the universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier, Stirling and Strathclyde, also found that across all custody settings -including police custody, mental health facilities, immigration detention centres, and in-care settings for looked after children and young people - a total of 244 people died in Scotland last year, the equivalent of more than four deaths per week.

A record 64 people died in prison in Scotland last year. Picture: Danny Lawson/PA Wire | PA

Some 138 deaths occurred among those detained on mental health grounds, 19 were after police contact, and a further three took place in police custody. Some 16 children and young people died in care, three people died while detained in immigration centres, and one inpatient with learning disabilities died while living in hospital.

Sarah Armstrong, professor of criminology at the University of Glasgow, who led the researchers, said the sharp increase in deaths in prison raised questions for the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), an executive agency of the Scottish Government which directly operated 16 prisons across the country.

She said: “The reasons behind the recent increase could both be due to the challenging physical environment of prison and the regimes inside it. Poor air quality, access to healthcare, extended periods of time being locked in cells and increased isolation from others, can all cause poor health, exacerbate existing conditions, and lead to a loss of hope.

“We also identified a recurring pattern in prison deaths with officers not completing cell checks adequately, health concerns of prisoners being treated by staff as drug seeking behaviour and signs of poor or declining mental health not being acted upon.

The researchers said the number of deaths was ‘worrying’, despite the Scottish Prison Service’s commitment to learn from each case. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire | Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

“Despite the Scottish Prison Service’s commitment to learn from each death in custody, it is worrying to see deaths occurring in similar circumstances year after year.”

According to the latest SPS data, there have been 20 deaths in custody this year so far, including seven in February alone. Six of the deaths in 2025 took place at HMP Edinburgh.

A SPS spokesman said: “Every death, whether in prison custody or in our communities, is a tragedy for all those who knew and supported the individual.

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“We are determined to deliver systemic change, at pace, to how we support people in our care, in a way which will be enduring, transparent, and impactful.”

The new SCCJR report, ‘Nothing to See Here? Deaths in Custody and their Investigation in Scotland’, also flagged concerns over the transparency surrounding deaths in custody, noting that the majority of the 244 deaths reported last year will not be subject to a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI), meaning “very little is known publicly about who these people are and why they died.”

Sarah Armstrong, professor of criminology at the University of Glasgow, said there was a 'recurring pattern' in prison deaths, including officers not completing cell checks adequately. | Glasgow Uni

The researchers pointed out that in a year when 138 people died in mental health detention, there were just two discretionary FAIs published on mental health grounds, with no inquiries carried out into the deaths of looked after children and young people.

Even when internal reviews were carried out by the likes of the SPS, NHS Scotland, or the Police Investigation and Review Commissioner, researchers reported a “wide variance” in how involved families were and how transparent each organisation was in sharing their findings.

One of the report’s co-authors, Linda Allan, honorary clinical associate professor at the University of Glasgow, said the lack of transparency and issues surrounding access to data and institutional accountability were unacceptable.

“More than four people including children and young people die every week in this country while they are under the care of the state and it is unacceptable that in many cases we will never know what their names were, how they lived their lives, what led to their death and what these organisations are doing to stop it from happening again,” she said.

“We need independent, timely investigations for every death that occurs while someone is in the care of the state. We need to see robust data gathered, for internal reviews to be made public to ensure transparency, and for families to be included at every stage of the process. A Scotland where these things don’t happen is a Scotland that doesn’t care.”

The researchers also found that numbers often did not match for agencies reporting deaths of the same population.

Prof Armstrong added: “We can’t even be sure the government knows who or how many are dying in their care.

“With this now being our fourth annual report, it seems we are further away than ever before from being the compassionate, progressive jurisdiction that the Scottish Government claims us to be.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Every death in custody is tragic and a matter for concern and we will carefully consider the findings of this sobering annual report.

“The health and wellbeing of all those in custody is a priority for this Government and we continue to work with partners to ensure their safety.”