Violence and self-harm in prisons ‘unacceptably high’ admits Justice Secretary

The level of violence and self-harm in UK prisons is ‘unacceptably high’, the Justice Secretary has admitted.

David Gauke’s comments come after new figures revealed violent incidents and cases involving self-harm were reaching ‘disturbing’ record highs in prisons across the country.

In the year leading to September 2018, 33,803 assault incidents were recorded – a rise of 20 percent on the previous 12 months.

Nearly 4,000 of those were deemed ‘serious’ incidents, or those that required medical treatment or resulted in fractures, burns, or extensive bruising.

The figures show assaults on staff have also risen, increasing by 29% year on year, to 10,085. Of these, 997 were classes as serious, although the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said a change in the way figures are recorded may have contributed to the jump.

According to the figures, there were 52,814 self-harm incidents, a 23% increase in the year previous – and a new record high for the UK prison system.

The report also revealed 325 deaths in prison custody were recorded in the 12 months to December 2018 – a rise of 10% from the previous year. Of those, four were classed as murders.

Mr Gauke said: ‘Violence and self-harm in our prisons is unacceptably high and these figures underline why we are spending an extra £70m to fight the drugs plaguing prisons and boost security, while also training over 4,000 new prison officers in handling the complex offender population.

‘And while these figures are disturbing, I am optimistic that the measures we have been putting in place will help us to reduce violence and ultimately better protect the public.’

Shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon cuts in prison staff numbers and budgets were ‘directly to blame for violence spiralling out of control in our prisons’.

He said: ‘Our prisons have become a danger to officers, inmates and wider society.’

In August 2018, Prisons Minister Rory Stewart introduced a £10million scheme to fight drugs, security and responsibility in prisons.

Mr Stewart claimed he would resign from the post if prisons did not meet imposed targets by August 2019.