Figures reveal the number of Lincolnshire residents who took their own lives

New figures show how many Lincolnshire residents lost their lives to suicide last year – as a change to the definition coroners use to decide whether somebody took their own life meant more deaths are likely to be included.

Ministry of Justice figures show Lincolnshire coroner's court completed 446 inquests into deaths in 2021 – 70 of which had a conclusion of suicide.

This was down from 75 in 2020.

Coroners across England and Wales reached 4,820 suicide conclusions last year – up from 4,475 in 2020 and the highest level since records began in 1995.

The MoJ said that though the inquests were completed in 2021, some of the deaths may have occurred prior but cases were delayed due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Samaritans said every life lost to suicide is a tragedy that can be prevented, but warned the figures should be treated with caution.

Elizabeth Scowcroft, head of research and evaluation at Samaritans, explained: “This is due to complexities in the process of determining a certain cause of death and the way that suicides are recorded and reported.

“Official suicide data provided every year by the Office for National Statistics takes account of these complexities and is more likely to give a truer picture of the number of suicides for any year, and whether the rates are increasing.

“Their latest figures for 2020 indicate there had been no increase in the early parts of the pandemic, however, we are yet to understand the full impact.”

The charity said a 2018 High Court ruling – which lowered the standard of proof for a suicide verdict – has also meant that more deaths are likely to be classified as suicide.