Rise in prison suicides prompts calls to tackle overcrowding

The government has said that it is investing tens of millions of pounds in prison safety and decency.The latest suicide, that of a man in his 40s who was waiting to be sentenced, happened at Winchester prison, bringing the number of self-inflicted deaths in England and Wales so far this year to 71.Frances Crook, the chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said she feared for the weeks ahead as Christmas approached.