Prison officers 'need Tasers and stab vests' to cope with rising violence in jails

Prison officers should be routinely armed with Tasers and stab-proof vests in order to tackle rising violence in jails, the acting head of the Prison Officers Association has said.

Mark Fairhurst told Sky News that attacks on officers are on the increase and the time has come to give staff extra protection.

"It's absolutely horrendous at the moment," he said. "Our members are getting assaulted at a rate of 19 per day."

"I'd like to see our members routinely issued with stab-proof vests, Tasers, PAVA (irritant) spray and rigid cuffs.

"We've only got an extendable baton, that's not enough. The violence is on the rise, the assaults against our members are on the rise and we need the resources to be able to quell the violence and do our job."

A riot at HMP Birmingham in December was described as the worst prison riot since Strangeways in 1990. Hundreds of prisoners went on the rampage for 12 hours.

It was eventually ended by specially trained riot officers, known as Tornadoes.

A Sky News Freedom of Information request has found the number of times Tornado officers have been called to deal with incidents in jails in England and Wales has risen dramatically since 2011.

In 2011 they were called to three incidents, in 2012 just two, and in 2013 they were called five times.

But in 2014 the number of incidents rose to 16, with 15 calls in 2015 and 16 calls in 2016.

Mr Fairhurst is a Tornado-trained officer and has been called to half a dozen riots.

"When you attend riots it's just like a war zone," he said.

"You get there, you don't know what's going on, you just formulate a plan and you roll with it. You face extreme violence.

"You put your life on the line. It's very frightening, you don't know what's going to happen."

Former inmate Ben Gibson, 31, has been in and out of prison over the last seven years.

"Without a shadow of a doubt it's getting worse, more frequent and severe," he said.

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"I mean people getting stabbed, hot-watered, and I was in the shower once when someone got slashed down from their neck… It gets normalised you know.

"I can imagine someone in normal society saying what I've seen is shocking - but that's what happens in prison. It is often."

He blames staffing levels and said when there were not enough officers on the wings prisoners were forced to remain locked up rather than go to education lessons or the gym.

"If your door is locked and you have very little in your cell to help with rehabilitation except a TV then what do you expect to happen?" he said.

"This is a result of people feeling unhappy, a result of a lack of opportunity and a result of not having any hope or an education."

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "We are committed to making prisons places of safety and reform. It is vital we do everything we can to tackle those issues that undermine security in our prisons and ensure they are safe environments for both staff and prisoners.

"We have implemented a range of measures to increase safety across the estate, including the provision of body-worn cameras, the installation of CCTV, and extra training for officers to manage incidents.

"We do not tolerate violence against our hardworking staff. Where incidents occur we will always work closely with the police to push for the strongest possible punishment."