Former prison officer petitions for protection

A FORMER prison officer from Sunderland who was attacked by an inmate whilst on duty at HMP Frankland is campaigning for mandatory protective gear for all UK prison staff.

- LYNN RUSK AND DANIEL HALL

Claire Lewis, 50, from Washington, was left with life-threatening injuries after the attack in 2010 and has been unable to work ever since. After an incident in the same prison where guards were attacked with hot oil and home-made weapons, Ms Lewis is calling for every officer to be equipped with anti-stab and anti-slash garments.

Four prison officers were injured at the County Durham jail on April 12 by Manchester bomb plotter Hashem Abedi. Three of them were taken to hospital.

Ms Lewis said the news “broke her heart” and “brought everything back” from when she was injured 15 years ago. She told the PA news agency: “It’s incredible that this has happened 15 years on and that the staff do not have the protection they should have.

“You have police officers, counter-terrorism officers, when they go and arrest people, they have ballistic vests, they have Tasers, they have extendable batons. When we walk into that prison we have a uniform and an extendable baton.”