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Revealed: Prison violence reaches record levels as 20 officers are assaulted every day by inmates

Dozens of prisoners have been released by mistake - PA
Dozens of prisoners have been released by mistake - PA

Prisons violence has reached record levels with assaults on staff rising by a third over the past year to 20 a day.

New figures revealed that 7,159 staff were assaulted in the year to March 2017, up by 1,750.

The number of serious assaults on staff has trebled since 2013 to 2,285 last year.

Ministers have launched a recruitment drive to add 2,500 frontline officers - Credit: Peter Macdiarmid/PA
Ministers have launched a recruitment drive to add 2,500 frontline officers Credit: Peter Macdiarmid/PA

There were also a record 19,361 of assaults by prisoners on other inmates, up by a fifth on the previous year.

The Government said that the performance of 10 jails is now of "serious concern" as it emerged that 71 prisoners have been freed by mistake - a rise of seven on the previous year.

The findings are the latest in a line of statistics laying bare the scale of the safety crisis behind bars in England and Wales. Campaigners and watchdogs have issued a catalogue of warnings about violence, drug use and overcrowding across the jail estate, which has been hit by a number of disturbances in the last year.

Prison staff carrying riot shields leave HMP Birmingham  - Credit: AFP/OLI SCARFF
Prison staff carrying riot shields leave HMP Birmingham Credit: AFP/OLI SCARFF

Earlier this month Peter Clarke, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, warned that staffing levels in many establishments are too low to maintain order and described the conditions some inmates are held in as "squalid, dirty and disgraceful".

Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: "These numbers confirm what the Chief Inspector of Prisons has described in graphic detail - that our prison system is nowhere near being safe for those who live and work within it."

Ministers have launched a recruitment drive to add 2,500 frontline officers, and put in place new measures to tackle the availability of mobile phones and drugs in jails as part of a reform drive.

 David Lidington - Credit: PA
David Lidington Credit: PA

Justice Secretary David Lidington said improving safety and security in prison  was his top priority.

He said: "These figures reinforce how crucial it is that we make progress as quickly as possible.

"I have seen first-hand the challenges our dedicated and hard-working prison staff face. "Boosting the frontline is critical to achieving safety and the number of prison officers we are recruiting is rising, with the number of new prison officers joining the service at its highest level since 2010."