£10m payouts for attacked prison guards

GUARDS beaten up in jail have won £10.3million compensation in the last five years.

- BY SASKIA ROWLANDS

The Ministry of Justice has paid an average of £51,000 to 202 injured officers since 2019.

The figures emerged days after terrorist Hashem Abedi scalded and stabbed three warders at HMP Frankland in County Durham.

Mark Fairhurst, of the Prison Officers' Association, said: "These payments highlight the dangers brave prison officers face on a daily basis.

"If we stopped appeasing prisoners the public purse would not have to compensate staff who are receiving life-changing injuries."