A senior figure in the main prison officers’ union has told Sky News that his greatest fear is a colleague being murdered on duty.
“My greatest fear is […] that one of my colleagues will be murdered on duty,” said Mark Fairhurst, who is national chair of the Prison Officers Association (POA) and also a prison officer.
Prison staff speaking to Sky News say they need greater protection after an alleged attack on a prison officer by Southport triple killer Axel Rudakubana on Thursday.
Rudakubana allegedly threw boiling water at an officer at HMP Belmarsh in London.
The officer was taken to hospital as a precaution and discharged the same day. They are expected to return to work next week.
The incident comes weeks after Hashem Abedi, the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber, allegedly attacked four prison officers at HMP Frankland in County Durham.
The members of staff at the high-security prison were attacked with cooking oil before being stabbed with an improvised weapon.
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“Violence in prison will not be tolerated and we will always push for the strongest possible punishment for attacks on our hardworking staff,” said a Prison Service spokesperson after Thursday’s attack.
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Prison staff facing increasing violence
These attacks have been high-profile but prison staff are regularly facing violence on the job.
There were 10,496 assaults against prison staff in England and Wales in the 12 months to September – a 19% rise on the previous year.
“We’re dealing with more prolific, violent and serious threats to our safety,” said Mr Fairhurst, who wants more support for staff.
“We’re asking for stab-proof vests in high-risk areas, slash-proof vests throughout the estate and the tactical use of taser in the high security estate.”
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The government has launched a review of whether prison officers should be given stab vests in the wake of the recent attacks.
Tom Wheatley, president of the Prison Governors’ Association, blamed the increasing violence on overcrowded prisons and longer sentences.
The average prison sentence for more serious offences is now almost two years longer than in 2010, according to the Prison Reform Trust.
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“Overcrowded conditions make it difficult for our staff to effectively manage the prisoners that they have in their care,” he said.
“Those really long prison sentences can make managing [prisoners] very difficult because, in essence, they have nothing to lose,” said Mr Wheatley.
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Last month, prisons in England and Wales were 98.9% full, despite the government releasing more than 1,700 prisoners early to free up space in September.
According to Mr Wheatley, more support for prison staff may also help to end a recruitment crisis in the prison service.
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“We need to invest in staff training, we need to invest in our staff more generally.
“Not getting paid a huge amount of money to come and place yourself in danger day after day is a real issue and we’re seeing it become more difficult to recruit.”
After the attack at HMP Frankland, Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood told Sky News: “We are carrying out an independent review into these events. This will look into how this was able to happen, and what we must do to better protect our prison officers in the future.
“This review will look specifically at this attack, but also more widely at how separation centres are run.
“The Prison Service will also conduct a snap review into whether protective body armour should be made available to frontline staff.”
