Articles & News

May 8, 2008

Prison suicides show no sign of abating

TT/Allegra Grevelius (news@thelocal.se), http://www.thelocal.se/11622/

A man was found hanging in his cell at a remand centre in Karlstad in western Sweden on Thursday morning.

According to Sveriges Television (SVT), the man probably hung himself sometime during the night or early in the morning. Prison staff called police shortly before 8am and an investigation is now under way.

Prison suicide is on the rise in Sweden. In 2007, 11 people committed suicide in prison, the highest count in many years. Today’s suicide is the third in a string of suicides across Swedish prisons earlier this year.

Only a couple of months ago a man was found hanging in prison in Mariestad. Prison staff were criticized for not taking him down and trying to resuscitate him.

Instead they left him in his noose and waited for 7 minutes until ambulance staff arrived. The man died later in hospital.

In the light of these tragic events, the Swedish correctional system has decided to change prison regulations on how staff handle inmates with suicidal tendencies.