An investigation has been launched following the death of a 26-year-old woman at HMP Foston Hall in Derbyshire. The prisoner, identified as Caria Hart, died in hospital on Saturday, the Prison Service confirmed. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) is conducting an independent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding her death.
Hart is the 109th woman to die in prison since the publication of the Corston report in 2007, which called for major reforms in the treatment of female inmates. The news comes just a week after it was reported that a newborn baby died in a cell at HMP Bronzefield in Surrey after the mother gave birth alone overnight.
HMP Foston Hall has faced previous criticism over inmate deaths. An inquest into the death of Caroline Ann Hunt in 2017 found serious failings in her management and care. A June report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons noted positive findings but highlighted that two female inmates had taken their own lives since 2016.
Deborah Coles, director of the charity Inquest, said: “The death of a young woman must be subject to the most searching scrutiny, not least given that HMP Foston Hall has been the subject of serious criticism as a result of previous deaths. Caria becomes the 109th woman to die in prison since the Corston review. So many deaths are the result of neglect and a criminal justice system that continues to incarcerate people in unsafe prisons.”
A Prison Service spokesman expressed condolences to Hart's family and confirmed that an independent investigation by the PPO is underway. The PPO's annual report, released last week, revealed that in 2018-2019 it opened fatal incident investigations after 334 deaths, a 6% increase from the previous year and the second highest annual figure since it started investigating deaths in 2004. There were 11 deaths in women's prisons, up from eight the previous year.
