Prison guards attacked by inmates more than ONCE PER HOUR as violence escalates to record highs
The Justice Secretary David Gauke called the figures 'disturbing' and the prison union says prison violence has 'spiralled out of control'
ATTACKS on jail guards soared by a third to more than one each hour last year as violence hit a new record high.
Some 10,085 officers were targeted by lags as the violent crisis rocking the county’s prisons deepens.
Of these, 997 were classed as “serious” – which includes broken bones, stabbings and burns.
Justice Secretary David Gauke admitted the figures are “disturbing”.
A spokesman for the Prison Officers Association said: “Violence within our prisons has spiralled out of control.
“And despite promise after promise, the Ministry of Justice has failed in its duty to make prisons safe.”
The figures also showed there were 33,803 assaults in total in prisons in England and Wales in the year ending in September.
This is up a staggering 20 per cent on the year before.
Self-harm incidents reached a record high of 52,814 – up nearly a quarter on the year before.
The number of deaths in prison custody soared 10 per cent to 325 last year.
Campaigners at the Howard League for Penal Reform branded the violence a “national crisis”.
The alarming results pile yet more pressure on Prisons Minister Rory Stewart who has vowed to quit if he cannot reduce drugs and violence in England’s prisons by August.
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