421 people from across Derry serving time in prisons in Northern Ireland last year

By Cathal McGuigan

The number of inmates from Co Derry in local prisons appears to be consistently falling, according to figures from the Department of Justice.

In response to an FOI request, the Department revealed that there were 421 people in prison in the north who provided an address in Co Derry in 2016, more than 200 less than the 637 locals behind bars in 2012.

The Department provided details of the age, gender and postcodes of inmates, but stressed that the figures cannot be completely accurate, saying that “not all prisoners will give us an address and even when they do we have no way to guarantee the accuracy of the information.”

The data shows that 382 men and 38 women from Co Derry were in prison in 2016, while there was one transgender prisoner and one of ‘unknown gender.’ In 2012, there were 585 men from the county in prison and 53 women.

The majority of Co Derry prisoners, at least 300 in each of the past four years, have been housed in Maghaberry Prison. Between 100 and 200 prisoners have been kept in Magilligan each year from 2012 to 2016, with the remainder kept in Hydebank Wood.

Prisoners from Co Derry are most likely to be in the 18-24 or 25-34 age groups, while there are usually less than ten Co Derry prisoners who are 65 or over in any one year. The figures show just one prisoner from the county under the age of 18 has been held in the past few years.

Most prisoners come from the BT48 postcode area, which covers Derry city. The highest number of prisoners from the area was 242 in 2012, while the lowest was 180 in 2014.

This was followed by the BT47 area, which covers the Waterside and also areas including Dungiven, Eglinton and Drumahoe. The highest number of prisoners from the BT47 area was 138 in 2012, while the lowest was 86 in 2015.

In contrast, the highest number of prisoners from the BT46 postcode area, covering Maghera and Swatragh, was 16 in 2012, while the lowest was just seven the following year. The highest number of prisoners from the BT55 area, covering Portstewart, was 19 in 2012 and nine in 2016.