Trial into use of Tasers by prison officers under way

MOVE FOLLOWS RECENT VIOLENT ATTACKS ON STAFF

- By MATHILDE GRANDJEAN and DAVID HUNTLEY

THE Justice Secretary has said she is "determined to keep prison staff safe" after an attack was carried out in HMP Frankland by Manchester Arena plotter Hashem Abedi.

Following the horrific incident, a trial looking into the use of Tasers in prisons has now been launched.

Specialist officers from the Operational Response and Resilience Unit based in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, and Doncaster, South Yorkshire, were the first to become equipped with Tasers from yesterday, as part of government plans to clamp down on record levels of violence against prison staff.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood attended the base in Kidlington last Thursday, when officers demonstrated how they would use Tasers on violent inmates in scenarios where there is a significant threat to safety - such as hostage situations or riots.

The trial will run until enough data has been collected to determine if Tasers should be more widely used, according the Ministry of Justice - but Ms Mahmood said she hoped to have updates in the autumn. She said: "I inherited a situation with completely unacceptable levels of violence. I'm not willing to tolerate that.