In the past three weeks alone, three young people have been found hanged in custody. Liam Ritson, 18, awaiting trial at Reading Young Offender Institution for alleged robbery, was the fourth person under 21 to be found dead in custody this year.
A week later at the same institution, 19-year-old Aaron Blake was also found hanged while awaiting sentencing for robbery. And in the same week, 20-year-old Paul Jones was found hanged at Norwich Young Offender Institution.
The three young men are the latest statistics of an under-21 prison population in England and Wales that has suffered 118 self-inflicted deaths from 1995 to 2004. Of these, 15 were aged 15 to 17. According to figures compiled by campaign group Inquest earlier this month, there were also 13 non self-inflicted deaths among under-21s in custody over the past 10 years, as well as six homicides and one death "awaiting classification".
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