‘A profoundly distressing milestone’: record number of deaths in custody and police operations in NSW

<p>There were 66 deaths in custody and police operations in 2025 – 18 more than the previous year</p><ul><li><p><em><strong>Warning: </strong>This article contains references to Indigenous Australians who have died</em></p></li></ul><p>There were a record number of New South Wales deaths in custody and police operations last year, with almost a quarter of prisoner deaths recorded as self-harm, a coroners court report states.</p><p>Of those who killed themselves, most were by hanging, despite millions being invested <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/series/fatal-inaction">to remove ligature points</a>.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/may/01/nsw-deaths-custody-record-number-ntwnfb">Continue reading...</a>