More than third of deaths of ex-prisoners on probation drug related, says report — SkimNews
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- Wales Governance Centre published findings showing that 37% of deaths among prison leavers supervised by probation in Wales in 2024-25 were drug related, versus 21% (131 of 620) across England and Wales; 19 of the 52 Welsh deaths involved poisonings whose intent was recorded as “undetermined.”
- Robert Jones, the report's author, said research based on UK government data and Freedom of Information requests points to “systematic failures” in the criminal-justice system, and called on the UK and Welsh governments to address the deaths and their causes.
- David Bennett of Wallich said most drug-related deaths are preventable if drug use is treated as a health rather than criminal-justice issue, arguing that housing, health and justice services need a joined-up approach for prison leavers.
- Wales recorded 695 people leaving prison under Welsh probation supervision as rough sleeping on the day of release in 2025-26, a 24% increase; the report described homelessness among former prisoners as continuing to rise.
- Welsh government said it is working with health boards, local authorities and Public Health Wales on early intervention, prevention, treatment and recovery, and argued that the findings strengthen the case for fully devolving justice to Wales.
- Adrian Mason, a Reform Senedd member, rejected devolution as the answer and claimed Scotland has Europe's highest drug-death rate despite devolved justice, saying Wales should focus on the day job rather than seek more powers.
- Ministry of Justice said more than £3.4m was being invested in Wales across prisons, probation and courts to help prison leavers overcome addiction; Ruth Jones said the committee had repeatedly pressed for Wales-specific data and several of the report author's FOI requests went unanswered.
Why it matters: Welsh prison leavers face two linked measures of failure: 37% of deaths among former prisoners on probation were drug-related, while 695 people were recorded rough sleeping on release, up 24%. Housing, addiction treatment and justice converge on one support gap despite £3.4m in government funding, while the Welsh government presents devolution as the route to a coordinated response.
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