It is important to remember when news emerges of a death in custody that the individual in question is in the care of the state, and must be supervised as such.
While prisoners rightly deserve to serve their sentences behind bars, they are also entitled to healthcare and other forms of support.
Given our relatively small prisoner population, sitting at around 1,900 across three facilities, it is concerning that there have been eight deaths in custody in the space of just 12 months.
More worrying still is that half of these deaths happened in the last seven weeks alone.
Of course, some of these deaths are from natural causes, as prisons are a microcosm of wider society and some inmates may be elderly or have underlying health issues.
That said, at least one of the deaths has been described as “potentially self-inflicted”, while in three of the cases, the individuals were discovered unresponsive in their cells.
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Deaths in custody are investigated by the Prisoner Ombudsman and inquests take place, which are vital in ensuring families know exactly what happened to their loved ones.
As former UUP leader Doug Beattie has said, it is important to identify if there are any trends in fatalities in custody, whether it be cases involving drugs or where someone may have taken their own life.
Properly investigating such deaths is paramount when it comes to ensuring that there is anything to be learned from the cases. There have been cases recently where recommendations have been made by the Prisoner Ombudsman after deaths in custody.
Kenneth Ramage (47) died in Maghaberry Prison on September 18, 2020, four days after he had been admitted to custody.
He was in custody at four different periods in 2020, and in one case had attempted to take his own life. He died on September 18 after being found unresponsive by staff on the landing.
The Prisoner Ombudsman, Jacqui Durkin, said she was satisfied the care Mr Rampage had received was to standard and could be considered as equivalent to, or of equal standard to, that provided in the wider community. But there were still lessons to be learned from that case.
She made two recommendations and said there was a need for a “review on how information related to the risk of suicide or self-harm is shared to ensure prison officers have the information they need to respond appropriately to individuals in custody and their behaviours”.
Deaths of those in custody must be handled with the utmost care, for the sake of not just prisoners and their families, but for wider society too.