A NEW report has again named a North-East prison as among the worst for suicides in the country.

Figures released yesterday by the Howard League For Penal Reform named Durham Prison as the institution with the third worst record in the country, with 23 inmates taking their lives in the decade to March last year, behind only Manchester and Leeds.

In 2001/2002, Durham was top of the UK suicide league, with seven deaths at the prison, although figures have since fallen, with four in 2002/2003 and three in 2003/ 2004.

The prison has come under increasing pressure recently over its handling of vulnerable prisoners following a number of inquests.

Last week, County Durham Coroner Andrew Tweddle wrote to the Prison Service for the second time in six months to highlight shortcomings in the treatment of prisoners.

His intervention came at the end of an inquest into the death of 48-year-old Londoner Susan Stevens, who took her life in February 2003 within days of being transferred from Holloway to Durham's Women's Unit, which has since closed.

In December, the lack of an effective system to identify prisoners at risk of suicide was raised by Mr Tweddle following the inquest into the death of 33-year-old remand prisoner Terry Gaskell, from Wigan.

Mr Gaskell was found hanged at the prison in October 2002.

An inquest into the death of remand prisoner Maurice Cowen is taking place this week.

The 30-year-old, who was awaiting trial in connection with an incident in which his father died at the home they shared in Blyth, Northumberland, was found hanged in the prison's segregation unit in October 2003.

Last year, the Chief Inspector of Prisons praised Durham for its work to tackle the problem, saying it had a high standard of work to prevent suicide and self-harm.

Figures released by the Howard League also revealed that 13 prisoners had taken their lives at Holme House Prison, in Stockton, over the same ten-year period, out of a total of more than 800 across the country.

Howard League director Frances Cook described the figures as "a shaming indictment of our penal system".

She said: "Judges and magistrates cannot justify sending ever-increasing numbers of people into our already-bulging jails when effective community sentences are readily available."

However, Home Office minister Baroness Scotland described tackling self-harm in prison as a Government priority.

She said: "The Prison Service and individual establishments are doing an unprecedented amount of work to tackle the risks that can lead vulnerable individuals to take their lives."