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Home Office

Answer

Mr. Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evidence he has obtained supporting the statement by the Director General of the Prison Service, broadcast on "Newsnight" on 25 March, concerning the relative likelihood of persons of Afro-Caribbean origins and persons of other ethnic origins suffering from positional asphyxia; and if he will publish this evidence. [39664] Mr. Straw: An internal Prison Service report dated February 1996 identified a range of medical factors that would be likely to place an individual at greater risk of sudden death when being physically restrained and therefore liable to suffer from positional asphyxia. These include sickle cell disorders which more frequently occur in persons originating from regions of Africa or the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and India. This is a difficult area with differing expert views. The Prison Service will be commissioning further research into these important issues. I am placing a copy of the report in the Library. Since the report had not originally been intended for publication, sections which identify personal information about specific individuals have been removed.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

310 c636W; 39664

Session

1997-98

Subjects

Discipline Death Diseases Prisoners Prisons Research HM Prison Service Restraint techniques Afro-Caribbeans Sickle cell diseases Restraint equipment