Assaults on prison staff reach record levels

Jails not safe and secure, admits minister, with errors including inmates being let out by mistake

VIOLENCE in prisons has reached record levels with almost 20 assaults on staff a day.

The Ministry of Justice revealed that 7,159 staff were assaulted in the year to March 2017, up by 1,750, while the number of serious assaults on staff has trebled since 2013 to 805 last year. It also admitted that 71 inmates were let out of jail by mistake last year – seven up on the previous year – while a further 15 had escaped.

The Ministry said the performance of 10 jails was now of “serious concern”.

David Lidington, the Justice Secretary, conceded that at present prisons are not “safe and secure”.

He said: “Since becoming Justice Secretary last month, my top priority has been on improving safety and security in our prisons. These figures reinforce how crucial it is that we make progress as quickly as possible. As the Chief Inspector of Prisons rightly observed in his annual report last week, we cannot achieve successful reform and rehabilitation unless our prisons are safe and secure – and this is some- thing I am committed to achieving.”

Campaigners have issued a catalogue of warnings about violence, drug use and overcrowding across the jail estate, which has been hit by a number of disturbances in the last year.

Earlier this month Peter Clarke, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, warned that staffing levels were too low to maintain order and described the conditions some inmates were held in as “squalid, dirty and disgraceful”.

Peter Dawson, director of the Prison

Reform Trust, said: “These numbers confirm what the Chief Inspector of Prisons has described in graphic detail – that our prison system is nowhere near being safe for those who live and work within it.”

A recruitment drive is in place to add 2,500 front-line officers and put in measures to prevent the availability of mobile phones and drugs.

The Ministry of Justice said that prisoners released in error were not considered to be unlawfully at large. It said: “They are not culpable and may be unaware that they have not completed their sentence or have outstanding warrants. Depending on the circumstances of the case, they may not be actively pursued for return to custody.”

Examples of errors can include misplaced warrants for imprisonment or remand, recall notices not being acted upon or sentence miscalculations. Selfharm in jails also reached a record high of 40,414 incidents, a rise of 17 per cent on the previous year.

The report also reveals that a third of juveniles go on to re-offend after being released from jail and that almost one in 10 random drug tests was positive.

Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrat MP, said: “It is beyond belief that 71 potentially dangerous prisoners have been released by mistake.”

Rachel Almeida, of Victim Support, said: “Many victims will be shocked by these figures, especially if they involve perpetrators of serious crimes.”