Falling through the cracks: ex-prisoners who died within two weeks of release

Growing number of people in England and Wales are being released into homelessness with little support

• Deaths within two weeks of prison release hit record high in England and Wales

In the weeks running up to his release from prison, Robert Barraclough began feeling anxious about becoming homeless. He told staff that he feared having to sleep in a tent in the cold, and began to self-harm.

He had been serving a 19-month sentence for assault and criminal damage at HMP Nottingham, and initially told prison officers he was looking forward to seeing his family and working at his friend’s scaffolding business on release.