Over 50 Assaults On Gartree Prison Officers In 9 Months

Violence against prison officers has soared since the pandemic with 23 attacks a day recorded last year across England and Wales.

At HMP Gartree near Market Harborough, there were 54 assaults on staff between January and September 2023 – an average of one a week.

The figures was 55 for the whole of the previous year,

A new report by the Community trade union, exclusively seen by Sky News, warns that without “major, generational reform… the epidemic of violence will only get worse”.

It is calling for all political parties to commit to a national strategy to reduce attacks on staff ahead of the next general election.

HMP Gartree

The number of prison officers facing attacks at work – across both public and private prisons – is rising rapidly.

The latest government figures released in January show there were 8,516 assaults on prison officers in England and Wales over the 12 months to September 2023, an increase of 16% on the previous year – which works out at 23 attacks a day.

The Community trade union, which represents thousands of staff at private prisons, has today published a report, co-written with Public First, which claims that without “major, generational reform of the sector, chronic overcrowding and the epidemic of violence against prison staff will only get worse”.

The Ministry of Justice says violence is ‘never tolerated’ and money’s being invested into things like X-ray body scanners in prisons.