Gwent Police have joined with the Samaritans to address the levels of self-harm and suicide by those held in custody.

Statistics show that each week in England and Wales someone will take their own life within three days of being released from police custody. There is also an increased risk of suicide and self-harm during periods of detention.

The new partnership aims to ensure that detainees are offered a call to Samaritans from their cell. In addition, on leaving custody they will be provided with Samaritans contact details and offered a call from Samaritans within 24 hours. Samaritans signs are also displayed in all of the cells at the custody suite.

Samaritans awareness training has been delivered to all custody sergeants who are tasked with passing the information on to colleagues.

Assistant chief constable, Rhiannon Kirk, said, ‘By working in partnership with the Samaritans we can ensure help is available to those at risk from suicide and self-harm and ultimately save lives.’

Police and crime commissioner for Gwent, Jeff Cuthbert said, ‘This partnership will add to the investment we have already made in improving out custody suites to prevent harm and create a modern environment. This includes the installation of CCTV and life-sign monitoring in all cells.’