Officers need protection from jail attacks - union

Prison officers need to have stronger protection against attacks by inmates, their union has demanded after four assaults in a week.

In the latest incident, at HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire, an officer had to be airlifted for emergency surgery after being stabbed. Three others were hurt in attacks at HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire.

Mark Fairhurst, of the Prison Officers' Association (POA), said prisoners who pose the highest risk should be "totally locked down". "It's only a matter of time before one of my colleagues is murdered on duty," he added.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said: "We will do whatever we can to protect our hardworking staff."

In a statement, it added: "The Lord Chancellor has announced a review into protective body armour and a trial of tasers in jails to better respond to serious incidents."

Mr Fairhurst, the POA's national chair, told BBC Breakfast: "We know our jails are awash with all kinds of illicit items, but we very rarely lock them down."

He called for facilities like so-called supermax prisons in the US, in which dangerous inmates are locked up and only have limited access to recreation and other facilities outside their cells.

After Friday's stabbing, West Mercia Police said initial inquiries suggested it was "isolated" and was not being treated as terrorism, and had followed a disagreement between an inmate and staff.

In Cambridgeshire, two of the three injured officers had boiling water thrown over them.

Responding to those attacks, the MoJ condemned them as "unacceptable".

"We will not tolerate assaults on hard-working prison officers and will always push for the strongest punishments against perpetrators," it said.

Concerns had already been raised over increased violence in prisons in recent months.

In April, the government suspended access to kitchen facilities for high-security inmates, after Manchester Arena bomber Hashem Abedi threw hot oil at officers and stabbed them with a blade, at HMP Frankland in County Durham.

The union leader linked the violence to increasing amounts of contraband finding their way into jails, often dropped by drones flying over the prison estate.

"Why are our air spaces not tightened? Why do we have ingress of drones in our prisons?" Mr Fairhurst asked.

"Surely there must be technology out there that prevents drones entering air spaces?"

Earlier this month, police made two arrests after a drone was seen circling above Long Lartin.

Mr Fairhurst's warning echoed that of the chief inspector of prisons, who said in January that the issue was "a threat to national security" and that police had effectively "ceded airspace" to criminal gangs.

The MoJ has introduced 400m restricted fly zones around all closed prisons and young offender institutions in England and Wales, making it an offence to pilot a drone in the restricted areas without authorisation.

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