By Jon Silverman Home affairs analyst

The problems of vulnerable prisoners do not stop when they are released. Are suicidal inmates being abandoned at our prison gates? The current record prison population of more than 72,000 in England and Wales has rightly focused attention on conditions behind bars.

But what - or who - goes in must come out. The circumstances in which a growing number of offenders re-enter the community so poorly equipped for life that some decide it is not worth continuing the struggle, is a problem which has been scandalously neglected.

One of the best known prisons, HMP Pentonville, disgorges between 2,500 and 3,000 male inmates each year. This is what happened to one of them.

Lester Shore died within hours of leaving Pentonville

Lester Shore left Pentonville at midday on 14 July 1999, after five months inside. He had rightly been identified as highly vulnerable. A drug user with severe mental health problems, he had been refusing to eat and had lost almost half of his body weight by the time of his release.

Despite all of these alarming indicators, Lester left Pentonville on his own in a taxi due to take him to a North London hospital, where he had earlier refused treatment.

Lester diverted his journey to a multi-storey car park near his home in Uxbridge. At 6.21pm he leapt to his death from an upper floor. He was 32.

'Compassionate and humane'

Had he died in Pentonville, there would have been an independent investigation. As it was, Lester's mother, Carol, was informed by the Home Office that the prison had conducted its own inquiry which concluded that it had treated her son compassionately and with humanity. Carol begs to differ.

What happened to Lester will continue to happen unless we ... take responsibility for the treatment of vulnerable prisoners.

Carol Shore, Lester's mother

"When I made calls to Pentonville in May and June, I should have been told of his condition. When I finally spoke to the prison doctor on the day before Lester's release, he ordered a psychiatric report, though it had no possibility of being carried out. To my profound sorrow, I believe the prison just hung on until Lester's automatic release when their responsibility ended."

If a prisoner attempts suicide or self-inflicts injuries, a special file (F2052SH) is opened, which follows them around as long as they are incarcerated.

But as soon as they are released, it is destroyed, even if the information it contains might be vital to preserving a life.

And many of the post-release deaths which are accidents, might also be preventable with more care.

Overdose danger

The Norfolk coroner, William Armstrong - who supports calls for more research into the problem - points out that drug addicts are particularly at risk.

"The tolerance level of a heroin user will fall once they are deprived of the drug in jail but invariably, they resume their old habit on release and the body just can't take it. Many deaths are caused in this way."

Next April, the National Health Service takes over responsibility for prison health care and the penal reform group, the Howard League, wants to see the government funding projects which would seek to reduce the number of suicides amongst ex-prisoners.

It is also urging the Inspectorate of Probation to carry out a review of suicide awareness and prevention, with a focus on probation hostels.

William Payne - a former governor of Feltham Young Offender Institution and now with the National Probation Service - agrees that more must be done, though he counsels against merely using existing prison anti-suicide techniques on released inmates.

"Never forget that custody is completely different from supervision in the community," he says.

For Carol Shore, the anguish will never abate.

"What happened to Lester will continue to happen unless we start to understand and take responsibility for the treatment of vulnerable prisoners. Society needs to be protected from criminals, but a humane society must treat the less able with compassion and care as well as punishment."