Assaults in HMP Isle of Wight have increased by 42% in five years, with prison reform campaigners declaring the situation a “national emergency”.
The rise in attacks on staff and prisoners, revealed in figures from the Ministry of Justice, shows the scale of the task prison officers are facing.
59 assaults on prison staff
Of the 179 assaults recorded in 2017, 59 were on prison staff. And 32 assaults were defined as serious, a category which includes sexual assaults and those where victims required hospital in-patient treatment.
In 2012, 126 assaults were recorded, meaning a five-year increase of 42%.
93% increase in self-harm cases
HMP Isle of Wight was formed from three institutions, Albany, Camp Hill and Parkhurst, in 2009. Although they reported their figures separately until 2013, all three institutions have been combined for comparison between 2012 and 2017.
The numbers also reveal that 541 cases of self-harm were recorded in Isle of Wight last year, an increase of 93% on 2012.
Across the country
Across prisons in England and Wales, nearly 30,000 assaults were recorded last year, more than double the number in 2012.
Self-harm also increased by 92% over the same five-year period, with nearly 45,000 cases in 2017.
Crook: Prisons being starved of resources
Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said,
“This shameful rise in violence and self-injury is the direct result of policy decisions to allow the number of people behind bars to grow unchecked while starving prisons of resources.
“This is a national emergency, and the government must respond boldly and urgently. Positive steps to reduce the prison population would save lives, protect staff, and prevent more people being swept into deeper currents of crime and despair.”
Minister: Case of “violence, suicide and self-harm far too high”
Justice Secretary, David Gauke, said,
“The levels of violence, suicide and self-harm in our prisons are far too high and we are taking urgent action to address these problems.
“Assaults on our hardworking staff will never be tolerated. We are ensuring prison officers have the tools they need to do the job, rolling out body worn cameras, ‘police-style’ handcuffs and restraints, and trialling PAVA incapacitant spray.
“Our recruitment drive is vital to ensuring prisons are safe, secure and decent so they can successfully rehabilitate offenders, and 90% of our additional 3,111 prison officers are due to be on landings by the summer.”
One self-inflicted death was recorded in Isle of Wight in 2017, a definition which includes suicides and accidental deaths through self-harm.
Article above shared by Data Reporter Joseph Hook as part of the OnTheWight’s collaboration with Press Association and Urbs Media
