By Megan Lane BBC News Online

As a prison reform group reveals that each year dozens of people kill themselves soon after being released, Carole Shore is reflecting on the fateful day her son left prison. On the day Lester Shore left HMP Pentonville after a five-month stint, his mother Carole hoped it would be the day he finally got back on track after years of drug abuse and petty theft.

Lester, right, two years before he died

But she was never to see him alive again. Within hours of leaving the north London prison in July 2000, the 32-year-old threw himself off a multi-storey car park.

"My son had been refusing food and water for several months - he'd gone from 11 stone to five-and-a-half. I thought he was being transferred to a psychiatric hospital, yet they put him in a taxi to hospital on his own," says Mrs Shore.

"Lester got out, got on a train and went back to Uxbridge [in west London] where he'd grown up. He went to the top of the car park and committed suicide."

He'd gone from 11 stone to five-and-a-half; I thought he was going to a psychiatric hospital

Carole Shore

Lester had been identified as highly vulnerable, and had been on suicide watch numerous times in the years he had been in and out of prison.

In the weeks just prior to his release, Lester was taken to Whittington Hospital suffering with malnutrition and dehydration. He refused treatment.

Kept in the dark

Yet the Shore family had no idea what was going on. As Lester had refused all contact - his family believes as a cry for help - they knew nothing of his deteriorating state.

Ex-offenders need more support, says the charity

"I didn't even know if he was still in prison," Mrs Shore says.

"[The prison authorities] told me I had no right to know because he was over 18. It was only after I cried and begged that they put me through to a warder, who told me he was OK."

But Lester was far from fine. The day before he was released, a hospital doctor phoned Mrs Shore to tell her that he had ordered a full psychiatric report. It was never carried out.

Mrs Shore is angry at the prison for not sectioning her son, which would have meant he received treatment instead of being released.

Unable to cope

More than 50 inmates commit suicide shortly after release each year in the UK

An inquest found he committed suicide while the balance of his mind was disturbed.

Although the Prison Service does not comment on individual cases, a spokeswoman said much work was underway to prevent suicides both in and out of prisons.

She said the prison and probation services were developing national guidelines on protecting vulnerable offenders, and on sharing information so none fell through the cracks.

The Home Office said it was hoping to make significant progress on developing guidelines on protection of vulnerable prisoners by autumn this year.

One of many

Each year dozens of offenders take the same drastic step as Lester within a week of being released, according to a Howard League for Penal Reform report released on Wednesday.

"Thousands of prisoners leave prison every year with nowhere to go and no support," says the report author, Claire McCarthy.

My son was a nice guy; he didn't deserve to die the way he did

Carol Shore

Long-term prisoners are supervised on their release, but probation officers focus on possible risks to the public rather than the inmate's welfare, the report says. Those serving short sentences received little or no preparation for release from either prison or probation staff.

Mrs Shore hopes other offenders will be given the help they need before they lose all hope.

"My son was a nice guy; he wasn't just a drug addict. He didn't deserve to die the way he did, feeling that it wasn't worth living anymore.

"And somewhere today, someone else's son will come out of prison and kill himself. It doesn't need to be like this."