Prison attack figures spark safety fears

ASSAULTS on prison officers leapt by 27% last year sparking fresh fears about the safety of England’s jails.

There were 9,485 attacks on staff in the year to June.

Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said there is “no end in sight to the catastrophe that has engulfed our jails”.

Ministry of Justice officials said the rising figures may partly be due to a change in how attacks on staff are recorded.

But overall assaults rose 20% to 32,559, including a 19% leap in prisoner-onprisoner violence.

Officers staged a mass walk-out in September.