The chief inspector of prisons says prison system for women is in crisis

The report by the Prison Reform Trust also says there was a 196% increase in the number of women remanded into custody between 1992 and 2002.

The report comes days after the chief inspector of prisons told the BBC the prison system for women was in crisis.

Last year 14 women died in jails in England and Wales.

There is clear evidence that, instead of getting the support they need, vulnerable women are being jailed due to breakdowns at every point in the criminal justice system Prison Reform Trust Jail experience 'killing women'

The PRT found that, at the end of the trial process, only 41% of women were given a jail sentence.

One in five women was acquitted.

More women were sent to prison on remand for theft or handling stolen goods than for any other crime, it said.

Report author Dr Kimmett Edgar said: "More and more women are being remanded into prison, not because their crimes require it for the protection of the public, but because of the lack of political will to support some of the most disadvantaged women in society."

PRT director Juliet Lyon said resolving the "needless use of remand" would reduce the women's prison population "at a stroke".

"There is clear evidence that, instead of getting the support they need, vulnerable women are being jailed due to breakdowns at every point in the criminal justice system," she said.

Complex needs

The report said that in 2002, 3,601 women were remanded on theft and handling charges.

The next largest offence category was drugs with 978 remanded followed by violence against the person with 860 remanded.

A BBC Radio Five Live investigation into deaths in women's prisons, broadcast over the weekend, was told the prison experience was "killing women".

It found that at Holloway Prison in London, which with 385 inmates is the largest women's prison in Europe, as many as 52 agency nurses are operating a suicide watch at any one time.

Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers told the Five Live Report that she is concerned the prison system is in crisis.

She said that too many vulnerable people are being jailed in a system that is unable to cope with their complex needs.