Introduction

Liebling (1998: 73) noted that critiques of prison suicide inquests tend to target the ‘structural level’ and fail to address ‘the experiential level, where both staff and families’ are located. However, ‘both the structural and experiential levels should be fully addressed’ (Liebling, 1998: 73). Since Liebling's comments, the investigations following prison suicides have evolved to include an additional Ombudsman investigation and clinical review. This chapter considers prison staff and prisoners’ families’ experiences of the full complement of post-prison suicide investigations. It highlights the burden that these investigations can impose on bereaved families and prison staff, raises concerns about the degree of scrutiny imposed upon prison staff given their limited agency, notes the unclear relationship between post-suicide investigations and suicide prevention and restates the need for accountability of political decision makers. A publicly resourced independent support service for bereaved families is suggested.

Staff and families may appear disparate and certainly should not be conflated, but there can be commonalities between their experiences through stages of bereavement (Lancaster, 2001). Both groups may be involved in routine investigations by the police, Ombudsman and Coroner, although families have more choice over whether to participate. Investigations may be further extended in rare cases due to CPS or HSE involvement. Staff and families may give evidence to all of these bodies, or have multiple reports shared with them over significant time periods after the death.

The sequence of investigations that follow prison suicides can be a complicated and extended ordeal for families and staff. Experiences of these investigations bear recognition. There is, primarily, the effect of the death itself. Harris (2015: 162) notes the ‘heart-breaking experiences of the families and friends of those who have died’ and emphasises the importance of ‘recognising the impact of a death on other prisoners and staff members’. Staff seem to be more commonly affected than unaffected by prison suicides, and prisoner suicide and selfharm are amongst the strongest contributors to the relatively high psychological distress amongst prison staff (Walker and Towl, 2016; Walker et al, 2017; Sweeney et al, 2018). Staff and family experiences of the investigations are triggered by and intertwined with the death, but the investigations create additional experiences, at what may already be a very difficult time.