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Suicide by hanging: multicentre study based on coroners’ records in England

Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol

Navneet Kapur, MD, MRCPsych and Pauline Turnbull, BA

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester

Sue Simkin, BA, Lesley Sutton, MSc and Keith Hawton, DSc, FRCPsych

Centre for Suicide Research, University Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK

Correspondence: Professor David Gunnell, Department of Social Medicine, Canynge Hall, Whiteladies Road, Bristol BS8 2PR, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 117 928 7253; e-mail: D.J.Gunnell{at}Bristol.ac.uk

Declaration of interest None.

ABSTRACT

Summary We studied 162 cases of hanging by suicide occurring in 24 coroners' jurisdictions in England within a 6-month period in 2001. Prison and psychiatric ward suicides accounted for only 6% of these. The most frequently used ligatures (ropes, belts and cable) and ligature points (beams, girders, lofts and trees) are commonly available in community settings, limiting opportunities for prevention. In only half the cases (52%) were victims fully suspended with both feet off the ground. Four per cent had also taken an overdose.

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