A RECORD number of inmates died at HMP Isle of Wight in the last year, figures reveal.

Penal reform charity The Howard League has called for deaths in custody to be included in an inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic, as a record number of people died in prisons across England and Wales.

Figures from the Ministry of Justice show 12 people died at HMP Isle of Wight in the year to September.

This was up from four the previous year, and is the highest figure since comparable records began in 2000. Since then, the prison has recorded 57 deaths.

Across England and Wales, 396 deaths in custody were recorded in 2020-21 – also a record high.

The MoJ said there have been 159 Covid-related prisoner deaths nationally during the pandemic so far – and most have occurred since September 2020.

Frances Crook, chief executive of the charity, said: "Prisons have largely been forgotten during the pandemic, but the rising number of people who have died reveals the devastation that Covid-19 has brought to those living and working behind bars and their families.

"Tens of thousands of people have been held in overcrowded conditions or solitary confinement for months on end.

"It is almost impossible to fathom the mental distress this will have caused.”

She called for the deaths of people in the criminal justice system to be included in the inquiry into the Government's handling of the pandemic.