Abstract
The elevated risk of suicide in prison and after release is a well-recognised and serious problem. Despite this, evidence concerning community-based offenders' suicide risk is sparse. We conducted a population-based nested case–control study of all people in a community justice pathway in England and Wales. Our data show 13% of general population suicides were in community justice pathways before death. Suicide risks were highest among individuals receiving police cautions, and those having recent, or impending prosecution for sexual offences. Findings have implications for the training and practice of clinicians identifying and assessing suicidality, and offering support to those at elevated risk.
Highlights
Sexual or violent offending at last arrest was associated with significantly elevated suicide risk, with an especially large elevation in risk seen among sexual offenders
Impending prosecutions for sexual offences was associated with a four-fold increased risk
We found that 13% of the national population dying by suicide were in contact with the criminal justice system in the year preceding death, a proportion greater than official sources suggest
Summary
The UK Police Authority supplied complete criminal record data from the Police National Computer (PNC). Cases were eligible for inclusion if an individual had been in a recent community justice pathway before death, with exposure defined as being arrested, charged, convicted or serving either a community-based sentence or licence in the 12 months before suicide. These criteria enabled the inclusion of all individuals who were in an active or recent community justice pathway and excluded prisoners. Approval to conduct this work was obtained from an NHS Ethics Committee (07/MRE09/34), the National Information Governance Board (ECC: 2-06(o)/2009) and the Ministry of Justice (RQA 591)
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