Prison officers to get body armour and taser training in £15m move

Prison officers at HMP Leeds will be given increased body armour and tasers to tackle rising violence.

- by Alex Grant

A report published last week by the HM Inspectorate of Prisons raised concerns about the number of self-inflicted deaths at Leeds prison in Armley, plus rising drug use and violence among inmates.

As a result, HMP Leeds will be included in a national £15m funding package which will see the number of stab proof vests for frontline prison officers increase from 750 to up to 10,000 across the country.

And 500 prison officers will be trained to use tasers, significantly scaling up the initial trial announced this summer. These officers will from part of specifically trained national units deployed to high-risk scenarios at UK prisons.