London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – England and Wales prisons saw a hike in daily assaults, with an average of 74 cases reported every day due to overcrowding, poor facilities, and staff shortages.
Data commissioned by the Liberal Democrats reveals that 26,912 assaults occurred in the past year, with 3,200 of them considered serious, about eight incidents a day.
The findings also revealed the dangerous prisons in England and Wales. HMP Wandsworth in south-west London, experienced the highest number of assaults, reaching 1,044, with over 571 attacks on staff.
HMP Berwyn in Wrexham, north Wales, ranked second with 783 attacks, while Thameside in Thamesmead, south-east London, recorded 667 violent incidents.
As reported by The Guardian, the statistics revealed a 28% rise compared to 2022, amid ongoing overcrowding and poor infrastructure issues.
The findings, reported earlier this year, show that the number of prison officials skilled in handling riots as part of the Tornado squads has fallen by one-third.
Analysts have raised concerns that such a decline may lead to a rise in violence and chaos in prisons.
The Independent reports that many experienced prison officers are leaving, raising worries that prisons could face more violence and may be occupied by gangs.
Since taking office in July, the Labour government faced a prison crisis and was forced to approve the early release of numerous prisoners who had completed just 40% of their convictions.
Using the latest findings, the Liberal Democrats reiterated their demand for an immediate strategy to hire and retain more prison officers and urged addressing the delays in criminal courts to lower the number of people on remand.
Josh Babarinde, the Lib Dem justice spokesman stated, “The Conservatives have left our prisons in utter chaos. With this staggering number of assaults and rates of reoffending through the roof, the Conservatives have left a system that is failing prison staff, failing victims, and failing our communities.”
He added, “Their neglect of our justice system is unforgivable, and their former Ministers should hang their heads in shame for this shambolic legacy.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said, “The new government inherited overcrowded prisons, plagued by violence and close to collapse. We have taken immediate action to address this crisis, and have a long-term plan to ensure we are never in this position again.”
Earlier this week, during an interview with The Times. David Gauke, ex-Tories justice secretary currently chairing a government review of sentencing, argued that Britain could better utilize open prisons. He stated that with limited prison space, there is an opportunity for reform in how prisoners are managed.
After visiting three Spanish prisons, where open prisons are widely used, Mr Gauke said, “We don’t make as much use of open prisons as we might do. You might spend part of your day out of a prison working, and then return to sleep at night – if that gets you into the rhythm of working and the disciplines of working, then that is helpful.”
The goal of the review is to explore severe penalties outside the prison system, while also ensuring there is sufficient capacity to detain the most violent criminals.
Earlier this week, Shabana Mehmood, the justice secretary, told the BBC that even with the government’s proposal to build 14,000 more prison spaces, there is a possibility of overcrowding in the next few years.
In an attempt to tackle overcrowding, the government released thousands of inmates to create more space, including more than 1,700 in England and Wales in September, and another 1,200 in October.
Under the government’s new “plan for change” proposal, the Labour leader aims to build four new prisons with prison places of 6400.