More than 10,000 assaults on prison staff last year

Record high as Manchester bomb plotter involved in attack

- HOLLY BANCROFT ANDY GREGORY

Attacks on prison staff have surged to a record high, according to fresh government figures that lay bare the crisis in England and Wales’ overcrowded prisons.

There were 10,605 assaults on staff last year, up 15 per cent on the year before, setting a new grim record, as attacks on other inmates and self-harm incidents also rose. The statistics, published by the Ministry of Justice yesterday, come after police launched an investigation into an attack on three prison officers at HMP Frankland in County Durham.

Hashem Abedi, one of the men responsible for the Manchester Arena bombing, threw hot cooking oil over the officers and used “homemade weapons” to stab them, according to the Prison Officers’ Association (POA).

It comes as staff are trialling the use of stab-proof vests in some jails, while tasers will be brought in at others in a bid to deter violence as part of another pilot scheme starting this summer. Specially trained officers will also be allowed to use the pepper spray to help diffuse incidents in youth offender institutions where rates of assaults on staff are significantly higher than in adult prisons.

Andrew Neilson, at the charity The Howard League for Penal Reform, said the statistics showed “the untold suffering and misery in prisons across our country”. The new data shows that conditions in England’s jails are worsening across the board at a time when the government is desperately trying to free up space by releasing thousands of prisoners early.

In the year to March 2025, there was a 37 per cent increase in the number of deaths in prison – from 291 to 399. This was driven by rises in deaths from natural causes and deaths awaiting further information. However, the number of homicides in prison each year has also increased from one to seven.