Concluding Comments 

This report links the data published by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) with the official records held by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) to examine cause of death in prison custody and compare deaths in prison custody with deaths occurring in the general Scottish population.

This report provides an overview of high-level trends in deaths in prison custody over the period 2012-13 to 2023-24.  The report presents a high-level summary of deaths in prison custody and therefore does not reflect the individual personal stories of the people involved.

Overall, the report has shown that deaths in prison custody have generally risen over the reporting period considered. Probable suicides, diseases of the circulatory system, drug misuse and accidents, cancer (malignant neoplasms), other causes, and COVID-19 have been the main causes of death in prison custody between 2012-13 and 2023-24.

Using standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) has demonstrated that the risk of death in the male prison population has been statistically significantly lower than in the male general population of Scotland across the reporting period. The risk of male probable suicide deaths in prison custody was similar to the male general population across the rolling periods 2012-15 to 2018-21, but in the rolling periods 2019-22, 2020-23 and 2021-24 the risk of male probable suicide deaths in prison custody was statistically significantly higher than the male general population. The risk of male drug misuse deaths in prison custody was statistically significantly lower than in the male general population for the periods 2012-15 to 2019-2022. However, for the rolling periods 2020-2023 and 2021-2024, the risk of male drug misuse deaths in the prison population is statistically similar to the male general male population.  

The SMRs presented in this report should not be taken as indicative that the risk of death (by probable suicide, drug misuse or any other cause) changes specifically as a result  of an individual being in prison custody. It should be noted that underlying contributory or determinant factors have not been examined in the analysis. Patterns in both population groups impact on the calculated ratio for each time period presented. Therefore, consideration must be given to the patterns present in both the prison and general populations when interpreting the results.