Tasers issued to some prison officers after attack at HMP Frankland in County Durham
The Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has said she is 'determined to keep prison staff safe', as the Government aims to clamp down on record levels of violence.
The Taser trial follows an incident at HMP Frankland in April this year, when Manchester Arena plotter Hashem Abedi targeted prison staff with boiling oil and homemade weapons in a planned ambush.
Four prison officers were injured, with three of them taken to hospital.
Ms Mahmood has admitted this attack has sped up the trial of Tasers, saying the incident 'has really forced the pace on further roll-out of these measures.'
Specialist officers from the Operational Response and Resilience Unit based in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, and Doncaster, South Yorkshire, will be the first to become equipped with Tasers.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood attended the base in Kidlington last Thursday, when officers demonstrated how they would use Tasers on violent inmates in scenarios where there is a significant threat to safety – such as hostage situations or riots.
The trial will run until enough data has been collected to determine if Tasers should be more widely used, according the Ministry of Justice – but Ms Mahmood said she hoped to have updates in the autumn.
It comes after rates of assaults on prison staff reached record levels last year, rising by 13% in the 12 months up to December 2024, according to Government data.
There were also 10,496 assaults on staff in the 12 months to September 2024 – a 23% increase from the previous 12 months and a new peak.
The Tasers will be worn by officers on their tactical vest in a secure holster, making the weapon visible to inmates as a deterrent, officers told Ms Mahmood last week.
The Prison Officers' Association (POA) said it welcomed the move, but added the Government needed to address the roots of violence in jail.
'The POA will always support any initiative that will help protect our members,' a spokesperson for the trade union said.
'However, as welcome as this initiative is, we need to address the reasons why prison officers need Tasers in the first place.
'Violence in our prisons is out of control and apathetic prison managers would rather put the prison regime before the safety of their staff.
'We urgently need action to address overcrowding, understaffing, drugs and the other root causes of prison violence.'
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