More than a third of deaths of former prisoners on probation in Wales in a year were drug related, according to a new report. This was higher than across England and Wales combined, where just over a fifth of total deaths were drug related. The Wales Governance Centre at Cardiff University published the report and urged politicians to tackle "systematic failures" in the criminal justice system.
Report author Dr Robert Jones called on the UK and Welsh governments to find a solution to the "tragic" situation. The Welsh government said it was working to reduce "harms caused by substance misuse", while the UK government said it was spending £3.4m to support prison leavers to overcome addiction. According to the report, 37% of all deaths among prison leavers supervised by probation in Wales in 2024-25 were drug related.
The number of drug poisonings where the intent was "undetermined" in Wales accounted for 19 of the 52 who died. Jones said this was "substantially higher" than the proportion across England and Wales as a whole, where deaths in this same category accounted for just over a fifth (21%) of the total - 131 out of 620. Criminal justice in Wales is controlled by Westminster.
The Plaid Cymru Welsh government, and the previous Labour administration in Cardiff before it, argue it should be devolved. Speaking to BBC Wales, Jones said the research looked at UK government data including Freedom of Information requests. He said: "The added shock value to this is that these data point towards some systematic failures with incredibly tragic circumstances and consequences.
"Yet there isn't really a particular debate or discussion ongoing at the moment about these deaths, and indeed their causes, and how we might actually find a solution to them." Jones said many areas of social policy, including "responsibility for tackling substance use, housing, education and local government" were devolved to the Welsh government. "So what tends to happen is that criminal justice matters can often fall between the gaps between debates in the Senedd and debates in Westminster," he added. Jones said the report raised "important questions about the current devolution settlement and whether the Welsh government has the powers and levers necessary to address the underlying causes of many of the challenges facing Wales".
He added: "Only by confronting the realities highlighted throughout this report can politicians and policymakers hope to overcome the many challenges facing communities across Wales." David Bennett, from Wallich, Wales's largest homelessness charity, claimed most drug-related deaths "are preventable if we treat drug use as a health, not criminal justice, issue". "Housing, health and justice need a joined-up approach," he said. He said the charity supported "conversations to devolve justice and policing" and said without "co-ordinated" support prison leavers were "being set up to fail".
Extract — continue reading at the source.
