More than third of deaths of ex-prisoners on probation drug related, says report

More than a third of deaths of former prisoners on probation in Wales in a year were drug related, according to a new report.

This was higher than across England and Wales combined, where just over a fifth of total deaths were drug related.

The Wales Governance Centre at Cardiff University published the report and urged politicians to tackle "systematic failures" in the criminal justice system.

Report author Dr Robert Jones called on the UK and Welsh governments to find a solution to the "tragic" situation.

The Welsh government said it was working to reduce "harms caused by substance misuse", while the UK government said it was spending £3.4m to support prison leavers to overcome addiction.

According to the report, 37% of all deaths among prison leavers supervised by probation in Wales in 2024-25 were drug related.

The number of drug poisonings where the intent was "undetermined" in Wales accounted for 19 of the 52 who died.

Jones said this was "substantially higher" than the proportion across England and Wales as a whole, where deaths in this same category accounted for just over a fifth (21%) of the total - 131 out of 620.

Kaynak: BBC News Health RSS (Açık Basın / Haber Servisi)