Prisoner attacks on officers at five-year high

VIOLENCE against wardens has reached a five-year high in Scottish jails, driven by overcrowding and a rising prison population.

New figures show there were 188 assaults on officers in 2011 – a 50 per cent rise over four years – with a further 698 prisoner-on-prisoner attacks. Attacks on staff in troubled Cornton Vale have more than doubled, making it the most dangerous Scottish jail in which to work.

There were 167 assaults of prisoners in Polmont Young Offenders Institute last year, more than double the number at any other prison.

A spokesman for the Scottish Prison Service said: “Assaults on staff by prisoners is always a concern, one assault is one too many. We don’t tolerate that kind of behaviour.

“But that’s not to say that our staff are not managing the prison population very well.

“They are dealing with an increasing prison population. Prisons are more overcrowded. The fact that these numbers are not higher is a tribute to staff who have to deal with difficult and sometimes dangerous individuals on behalf of wider society.”

Prison bosses have grown increasingly concerned about Cornton Vale women’s prison.

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons had previously been critical and, in June last year, said it was getting even worse.

Brigadier Hugh Monro said Scotland’s only all-female prison is overcrowded, with poor living conditions and limited activities for inmates, which hinders their rehabilitation, making them more likely re-offend. There were 57 assaults on staff at the prison last year, with a further 67 on fellow inmates.

John Scott QC, chairman of the Howard League Scotland, an organisation focused on justice reform, called for a reduction of the prison population.

“The obvious solution lies in sending fewer people to prison,” he said. “The more people, the greater tensions, the greater pressure on prison life.

“It’s a sentencing and remand issue. This government has said it wants to do something about reducing the number of short term prisoners, but the situation has not yet improved particularly.”

Scottish Labour MSP Neil Findlay obtained the figures through a parliamentary question and answer, after rioting at Addiewell Prison in West Lothian at the start of the year.

Up to 70 prisoners went on the rampage at the privately run prison, throwing snooker balls and starting fires. However, the figures show Addiewell, which opened in December 2008, is one of the better performing prisons, with attacks on staff falling from 45 in 2009 to 19 last year, and prisoner-on-prisoner incidents down from 83 to 43.

Mr Findlay, MSP for the Lothians, said: “There is a very mixed picture across the estate. Some prisons are seeing a decrease in assaults whereas others are seeing a rise.

“My concern was the prison in my patch (Addiewell) where there have been several incidents. However, looking at the figures, they seem to be going in the right direction.”