Almost 1,000 prison guards hospitalised in just one year after attacks by lags

18 February 2023 , 22:38

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Union boss Mark Fairhurst called the UK's prisons 'the most hostile workplace in Western Europe'

Almost 1,000 jail guards were hospitalised in just one year, sending injury compensation levels to record highs.

Figures show 952 ­officers needed hospital treatment in 2021 for working in what one union boss has branded “the most hostile workplace in Western Europe”.

Prison Service data, ­revealed via a question made in ­parliament, shows the cost of compensation for staff hit a record £4.5million ­in the 12 months to April 2022.

It also emerged that nearly 10,000 weapons were seized from cells during 2021.

One in seven officers left the service last year and 50% were quitting after less than three years in the job, according to the Prison Reform Trust.

'I ventured into Alcatraz after dark and was terrified by what I saw and heard'

10,000 weapons were seized from the country's prisons in 2021 (Getty Images)

Mark Fairhurst, chairman of union the Prison Officers Association, blamed a lack of protection for staff working with violent convicts – many under 18.

He said: “Violence is increasing because ­officers are working in the most hostile workplace in Western Europe. The most ­violent cohort that we look after are under-18s. While officers working in other estates are given ­batons to protect themselves, staff working with juveniles have nothing.”

Last year, a jail officer at HMP Brinsford, near Wolverhampton, was repeatedly stamped on by a 19-year-old who had previously knifed a youth. One former warder, who refused to be named, said an unwritten rule that older officers were never attacked had gone.

The man, 48, added: “Towards the end of my career, I saw staff assaulted on a daily basis. It puts a massive strain on mental health.”

An MOJ spokesperson said: “We never tolerate attacks against our hardworking staff and assaults have fallen by more than 20 per cent since 2019.

"Our new £125 million investment in prison security is tackling the drugs and weapons that fuel prison violence and we are rolling out body-worn cameras and synthetic pepper spray to further protect officers."

Saskia Rowlands