Two prison staff a day dismissed for bad behaviour

The reasons why prison staff were dismissed from their positions in 2018/19

DOZENS of prison staff are being dismissed from their roles because of bad behaviour.

This includes things like conducting sexual relationships with convicts, helping prisoners escape, and smuggling gifts behind bars.

Those are the findings of exclusive Ministry of Justice figures released under Freedom of Information laws.

The data reveals that 113 members of staff working in the HM Prison Service or the Youth Custody Service were dismissed from their jobs in 2017/18.

Some 196 episodes of misconduct had been proven against them, the data revealed.

Fifty of the episodes that contributed to a staff member’s dismissal were classed as “unprofessional conduct”.

This type of misconduct included employees found to have accepted gifts from inmates as well as those who’d smuggled gifts from the outside to prisoners.

A further 23 charges were for “bringing discredit on HMPPS”, which includes any on and off duty actions likely to negatively affect public confidence in the service.

Eighteen charges related to security breaches - including helping prisoners escape - and 17 were for misconduct of performance of duties such as being unfit for work.

Official guidelines give an example of this as being a member of an organisation promoting racism.

There were 15 charges where staff members were found to have assaulted or used unnecessary force on a prisoner.

In seven instances prison staff were proven to been asleep while on duty.

In a further seven they used abusive language or behaviour against other staff members.

There were also seven instances where staff were found to have an inappropriate relationship with a current or ex-prisoner.

The data revealed that four of those staff members were female, while the remaining three were male.

A statement released alongside the figures said: “The vast majority of prison officers carry out their duties to the high standards the public rightly expect, but the small minority who fall short of those standards are held to account.

“Allegations of inappropriate behaviour, though rare, are taken extremely seriously and are immediately investigated.

“We will not hesitate to take action where there is evidence of misconduct and we work closely with the police to make sure those responsible feels the full force of the law.”

The 113 staff members dismissed from their positions in 2017/18 was up slightly from 105 the year before.