MoJ: Reporting changes responsible for figures

Increases in self-harm among UK prisoners in the last five years are a result of improving reporting systems, the Ministry of Justice has said.

A spokesperson made the claim in response to figures from the Howard League for Penal Reform showing the number of self-harm incidents has increased by over a third since 2002.

"The significant increase in the number of prisoner self-harm incidents can be attributed to the introduction of a much more thorough and robust reporting system," the spokesperson said.

"This led establishments to become more effective at reporting, leading to a marked increase in self-harm incidents between then and the present.

The spokesperson said one per cent of prisoners were responsible for a quarter of incidents, adding: "The transfer or release of a number of prolific self-harmers can skew the figures enormously."