At the beginning of June there were 12,953 remand prisoners in England and Wales – around one in six of the overall prison population. In the last two years the remand population has increased by nearly two thousand.

In 2001, 53,467 innocent people were remanded into custody awaiting trial.

At the end of May 2003, the number of women on remand was 1,046, nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of the female prison population. Women on remand constitute one of the fastest-growing groups within the prison population: the average population of women on remand in 2002 marked a 35 per cent increase on 2000.

In 2001 the average age of a remand prisoner was 27. More than one in five were under 21. Around 5 per cent were aged between 15 and 17 years age.

Eight out of ten people received into prison on remand are for non violent offences. In 2001 the largest proportion, 27 per cent, were remanded into custody for theft and handling of stolen goods.

One in five of all those held on remand are acquitted. The vast majority received no compensation for this period of incarceration.

Half of all remand prisoners go on to receive a non-custodial sentence. Of male prisoners held on remand in 2001, 49 per cent received a non-custodial sentence; of female remand prisoners, 58 per cent received a non-custodial sentence.

Last year 36 people held in prison awaiting trial took their lives – more than a third of all prison suicides that year. At the end of August, 19 remand prisoners had taken their own lives this year.

According to research by the Office for National Statistics, more than a quarter of male remand prisoners have attempted suicide at some stage in their life. For female remand prisoners the figure is even higher. More than forty per cent have attempted suicide before entering prison.

In 2001 the average time on remand awaiting trial for male prisoners was 49 days and for women was 39 days. In 2002, 1,390 prisoners had spent over 6 months on remand, of whom 220 had spent over two years in prison.

A significant proportion of those held on remand have been in prison previously. A study carried out in 2000 found that 65 per cent of respondents had been remanded into custody before.

According to the Office for National Statistics nearly three quarters of male remand prisoners and nearly half of female remand prisoners have used at least one drug in the year before coming to prison. Nearly a third of men used heroin in that year and more than forty per cent of women. Overall these figures are much higher than for sentenced prisoners.

Remand prisoners suffer from a range of mental health problems. According to the Office for National Statistics more than three quarters of male remand prisoners suffer from a personality disorder. One in ten suffer from a functional psychosis and more than half suffer from depression. For female remand prisoners, nearly two thirds suffer from depression. Once again these figures are higher than for sentenced prisoners. Research has found that 9 per cent of remand prisoners require immediate transfer to the NHS.

Remand prisoners are more likely than sentenced prisoners to have a history of living in unstable or unsuitable accommodation. Research by the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO) has suggested they are five times more likely to have lived in a hostel prior to imprisonment

Over two in three of all prisoners are unemployed when they go to jail. But research by NACRO has found that remand prisoners are less likely than sentenced prisoners to have had a job before prison. The minority of remand prisoners who do have jobs are more likely to lose them whilst in prison.

Even though remand prisoners are held closer to home, they are more likely to lose contact with their family. According to the government’s Social Exclusion Unit, forty-eight per cent say they have lost contact with their families since entering prison.

Research by the Prison Reform Trust has found that prisons are failing to equip remand prisoners to prepare for trial. The study found that nearly half (48%) of prison libraries in jails holding remand prisoners stock the standard legal texts that under Prison Service regulations they must provide.