BLAKENHURST Prison is no longer the worst in England and Wales for suicides, new figures have revealed.

But it was still one of the top 12 in the suicide shame list last year, according to the Howard League for Penal Reform.

In 2003, the prison had five suicides - more than any other - but last year, this dropped to three.

Twelve out of the 138 prisons in England and Wales had three or more suicides.

The last Chief Inspector of Prison's report in 2002 said prisoners at risk of suicide or self-harm were generally treated with care at Blakenhurst but in the past, there had been an acceptance of violence within the prison.

Finola Farrant, from the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: "When we sentence someone to imprisonment, we shouldn't be sentencing them to death.

"People are killing themselves in our overcrowded, poorly resourced and badly maintained jails.

"Rather than sending increasing numbers of often vulnerable people to prison, we should be ensuring, wherever possible, offenders make amends in the community rather than being held in such damaging places."

In 2004, there were 95 suicides in English and Welsh prisons, including 13 women. This matched the previous record number of suicides in 2002.

The league is the oldest penal reform charity in the UK, is entirely independent of government and funded by voluntary organisations.

It was established in 1866 and named after John Howard, one of the first prison reformers.