Ministers have been accused of “backtracking” on a pledge to investigate why a record number of prisoners have killed themselves.

The death of Dad Dean Saunders, 25, from Basildon, is just one of 119 self-inflicted deaths behind bars in England and Wales in 2016 while incidents of self-harm jumped by nearly a quarter to a record level of 37,784, according to official figures.

Dean was suffering from mental health problems when he electrocuted himself at Chelmsford Prison in January last year.

He had just been released from hospital when he stabbed two members of his family and was charged with two counts of attempted murder.

His tragic case has been highlighted by MP Luciana Berger, who will be leading a debate in the House of Commons on prison deaths today.

She said she was given assurances in the House of Commons by Justice Minister Phillip Lee that prison deaths would be investigated in a bid to work out if there was a pattern behind them.

But when she later asked when the findings of their investigation will be published, ministers sidestepped the question.

Responding to the parliamentary question, Justice Minister Sam Gyimah said simply that they “carefully study the details of all deaths in custody to determine whether there are any patterns, or lessons to be learned, to further our understanding of why these tragic events happen”.

Ms Berger said: “Despite Britain abolishing the death penalty half a century ago, last year 119 people took their lives in our prisons.

“Prison should offer a unique opportunity to provide mental health treatment in a secure environment, yet prisoners are eight times more likely to die by suicide than the rest of the population.

“Behind each of these tragedies is a grieving family struggling to come to terms with how this could ever have been allowed to happen.

“Ministers must take urgent action to ensure that no prisoner pays the penalty of their life.”

Dean’s father Mark, 49, a bus driver from Basildon, last week met and received an apology from Justice Secretary Liz Truss and impressed the importance of urgently improving safety in Britain’s jails in order to avoid more deaths.

He said: “I looked back through ten years of investigations into suicides and the same failings are repeated, there are clear patterns there.

“I told her that I was angry, because if something had happened many deaths and inquests ago maybe we wouldn’t be here now. I’m angry on that side.

“But now I know the failings I can’t walk away. I can’t walk away and let someone else die and I don’t want Dean to have died in vain. Dean was the type of lad who would help anyone, and when he needed the help they just turned their back on him.

“They have got to make changes. That’s what I’m fighting for.”

After being taken in custody, Dean had been initially placed on round-the-clock watch but was soon taken off it. Although he had tried to self harm and had spoken about killing himself in the days leading up to his death, his care plan was not altered, Mr Saunders said.

He warned that authorities are failing to properly enforce the recommendations made by investigations into deaths in custody, so the same mistakes are being repeated.

Mr Saunders said: “I realise you can’t stop every death. There are going to be the ones that slip through the net, where there have not been any warning signs.

“But not in Dean’s case. They were told about him, the warning signs were there, so there is no excuse.”