Three female inmates confirmed dead in English prisons over the space of 10 days

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Three female prisoners have died in the space of 10 days across England, in what campaigners have branded an “incredibly worrying” sign that deaths in the women’s jails are rising again. Rebecca Roberts, head of policy at Inquest, said: “These figures are incredibly worrying and suggest that the numbers of deaths in women’s prisons are rising once again despite promises of action from the government. “We are also concerned to learn that so many women are being found unresponsive in their cells and dying unexpectedly from unknown or unidentified causes.” A report by Inquest earlier this year warned that women with histories of mental ill-health, domestic violence and poverty were being inappropriately imprisoned. “The government must work across health, social care and justice departments to dismantle failing women’s prisons and invest in specialist services, to prevent more needless deaths.” A Prison Service spokesperson said: “Every death in custody is a tragedy and as usual there will be an independent investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman into each of them.”