LEVELS of suicides, assaults and self-harm in prisons all reached record highs last year, leading to renewed calls for an urgent overhaul of a system in crisis.

Government statistics published yesterday showed that there were 354 deaths behind bars in England and Wales last year, including 119 which were apparently self-inflicted.

The number of assumed suicides — equivalent to two every week — represented a jump of nearly a third on the previous year.