Teen thug’s 38 attacks on ‘fearful’ jail staff

A TEENAGE inmate was responsible for a staggering 38 attacks on prison officers and staff over just seven months, inspectors say.

The inmate at HMP Feltham A – home to around 115 prisoners aged 15-18 – is said to have “extremely challenging needs”.

Independent Monitoring Board inspectors revealed violence at the West London jail was mainly by a “small number” of youths.

But the problem was so bad last May that bosses drafted in dogs to protect staff.

An IMB report said: “The level of assaults was such that dogs were temporarily introduced to Falcon unit to support the staff who were fearful for their own safety.

“Assaults were peer-on-peer and on staff. Most attributable to a small number of young persons with extremely challenging needs.

“One such person assaulted 38 members of staff in seven months.”

Falcon unit houses inmates judged to be a risk to “the rest of the prison” or who need to be separated for their own protection.

The report said dogs had a “calming effect”. But it noted there had also been an increase in the number of rooms wrecked and weapons found.

And it added: “There has been a significant increase in rooms damaged, with furniture destroyed and observation panels smashed. There has been an increase in the use of improvised weapons, such as plugs in socks. In February, there was a three-on-one assault with a weapon made of a screw attached to a pencil.”

It warned the jail’s stability was “concerning”, especially last August, when there were 18 incidents “at height” in just one week.

Such incidents usually involve inmates climbing over the bars of a landing.

“During the week of 15 August there were 18 incidents at height, some involving multiple young people, and the IMB was called five times,” inspectors added.

“At that time, we were highly concerned about the stability of Feltham A.”

Speaking about the violence levels, prison bosses said that the number of assaults had dropped considerably in the past six months, saying such incidents had “halved” since August last year.