Rise in assaults on prison staff by inmates

Assaults on staff at a prison were "considerably higher" in 2024 than the previous year, inspectors have said.

The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) said staff at HMP Holme House in Stockton were assaulted by prisoners 90 times in 2024, compared to 40 such incidents in 2023.

It said nine of the assaults last year were considered to be "serious".

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has been approached for comment.

In a report published on Thursday, the IMB said there were 324 incidents of violence among prisoners in 2024 compared to 298 the previous year.

Inspectors also found that force was used by staff on prisoners 856 times in 2024, compared to 468 times in 2023 and 268 occurrences in 2022.

They also said seven prisoners were each subject to force on more than 10 occasions that year, with force used on one particular prisoner 21 times that year.

The IMB also found a number of prisoners "under the influence of illicit substances" on each day of its inspections.

"Substance misuse continues to be a significant problem in the prison," the report said.

At any one time, almost half of the prison population is being helped by a non-clinical drug recovery programme, the team said.

The report revealed that of the 1,350 prisoners released from the site last year, 112 individuals had no arranged accommodation for the night of their release.

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