Latest news with #HMP
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Prison officer stabbed at HMP Long Lartin 'with knife brought in from outside jail'
A prison officer who received emergency treatment after being attacked at a high security jail was stabbed with a weapon from outside of prison, Sky News understands. The 25-year-old officer was after allegedly being attacked by an inmate who used a knife that wasn't made inside the jail, which is otherwise known as an "improvised" weapon. It is not known how the weapon was brought into the prison. However a recent inspection of HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire described the "incursion of drones" as "an increasingly critical problem" for the jail, and a "threat" that was "unsettling" for staff. The officer is in a stable condition following the attack on Friday morning but underwent emergency surgery, after sustaining what West Mercia Police described as serious injuries. A 22-year-old suspect is being held in custody within the prison. West Mercia Police Assistant Chief Constable Grant Wills said on Friday that the incident was not being treated as terrorism. He added: "Our initial enquiries suggest there was a disagreement between an inmate and prison officer that escalated and is an isolated matter within the prison." This was the third attack at a Category A, high security jail, in less than two months. In April, the Manchester Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi and a homemade weapon while in a separation centre, which are used to house extremist and violent offenders. At HMP Belmarsh, Southport killer of throwing boiling hot water over an officer through the hatch in his cell door earlier this month. Read more from Sky News: There were 10,605 assaults on staff in the year to December 2024, a 15% increase on the year before, marking a record high. The government says the safety of frontline staff is a top priority and has commissioned a series of reviews to consider increased protection for officers, including stab-proof vests and the use of Tasers in certain situations. The independent reviewer of terrorism, Jonathan Hall KC, has also been appointed to carry out a review of the alleged Abedi attack at HMP Frankland, to consider whether separation centres are fit for purpose. A Prison Service spokesperson said: "Police are investigating an attack on a prison officer at HMP Long Lartin. "We will not tolerate assaults on hardworking staff and will always push for the strongest punishments against perpetrators."
Telegraph
a day ago
- General
- Telegraph
Prison guard stabbed at high-security jail
A prison officer has been stabbed and seriously injured in an unprovoked attack by a prisoner at a high-security jail. The prison officer was airlifted to hospital on Friday morning after being stabbed by an inmate in HMP Long Lartin, a category A prison near Evesham, Worcestershire. He was said to be in a 'stable' condition after emergency surgery. There were unconfirmed reports that the knife used in the attack may have been delivered into the jail by a drone. Prison Service sources said this was based on the theory that it was a real knife rather than a makeshift one constructed from materials within the jail. The attack will raise further concerns over the scale of violence in jails after a series of assaults over the past two months, including a knife attack by Hashem Abedi, the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber, on three officers at the high-security HMP Frankland jail in County Durham. On Thursday, The Telegraph revealed that two prison officers at the high-security HMP Whitemoor jail in Cambridgeshire were taken to hospital after two separate attacks. It followed the killing of a convicted murderer by another inmate at the same prison last month. Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, has ordered reviews into whether front-line prison officers should be equipped with stab vests to protect against knife attacks and tougher powers to segregate the most violent offenders in 'supermax-style' units. She has also ordered a trial of Tasers. 'Lucky to have survived' According to The Sun, the prison officer at Long Lartin was stabbed in his body, with a blade from a flick-knife nicking his liver. A source told the paper: 'The attack came out of the blue and was early in the morning after the prisoners were unlocked. The member of staff is lucky to have survived, particularly given where the blade struck him. 'It nicked his liver, so it could easily have been a lot worse. His colleagues raced to his aid, and luckily, police and ambulance crews got to the prison pretty quickly. 'Other members of staff are furious. They do not feel they are getting the protection they deserve, and they have been warning about drones for ages. It is a daily occurrence that they are dropping stuff off there, and it is extremely worrying that a flick-knife was delivered. If that can be dropped off, anything can. 'It is ridiculous, especially at what is meant to be a highly secure jail. Prisons are out of control – something needs to be done, and fast.' 'We will not tolerate assaults' In a statement, West Mercia Police said officers had been called to HMP Long Lartin over an assault. 'One man was taken to hospital with serious injuries after sustaining a stab wound. The inmate remains within the prison and the investigation is ongoing,' the statement said. A Prison Service spokesman said: 'We will not tolerate assaults on hard-working staff and will always push for the strongest punishments against perpetrators.' Category A Long Lartin prison houses 900 highly dangerous inmates, including killers and terrorists. Inmates there include Suffolk strangler Steve Wright; Jordan McSweeney, who murdered Zara Aleena in 2022, and Vincent Tabak, Joanna Yeates's killer. It is understood the latest attack was not by a high-profile prisoner. The latest assault comes just weeks after Abedi, who is serving life over the murder of 22 people in the Manchester Arena bomb, attacked three officers in a separation unit at HMP Frankland by throwing hot cooking oil over them and stabbing them with two makeshift knives fashioned from baking trays in the kitchen. The Prison Officers' Association has called for all terrorists and violent prisoners who assault officers to be held in US-style 'supermax' units or separate jails where they are only allowed out of their cells one hour a day, handcuffed and supervised by three officers.
Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Rose West 'can barely walk and has no friends' behind bars
WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT Serial killer Rose West was convicted of ten murders back in 1995 and she is one of only four women in Britian to be given a whole life order New details about how notorious serial killer Rose West spends her days in prison has been revealed. West, now 71, raped, tortured and killed at least 12 women and girls with husband Fred at their Gloucester home of horrors between them, from 1967 to 1987. Their horrifying crimes didn't come to light untill 1992 when daughter Louise, then just 13, accused Fred of rape and Rose of cruelty. That case collapsed after eldest daughter Anne Marie — abused from age eight — refused to testify, but what the children told police raised red flags. Officers launched a huge investigation after learning the kids were constantly threatened with being buried 'under the patio like their sister Heather', who had vanished five years earlier. The full horror was soon uncovered, their youngest victim was Rose's stepdaughter Charmaine, just eight, and the eldest was Fred's ex-wife Catherine 'Reno' Costello, 27. In 1995, Rose West received a whole life order, for life, meaning she will die behind bars after police discovered a series of mutilated bodies buried in the garden, beneath a patio and even in a sex dungeon cellar. Fred never stood trial for the horror he helped unleash. He took his own life while on remand in HMP Birmingham agd 53. Since she abandoned her attempts to appeal her conviction in 2001, she is understood to be resigned to dying in prison, where sh has already spent nearly 30 years. Shehas regular transfers due to threats of violence from other inmates. She has been at New Hall for six years and enjoys a cushy life. But insiders said she sometimes lashes out at staff if she does not get her own way. A source told The Sun:"She's in a disabled room now because she can barely walk. She never really leaves the wing she's held on and is escorted all the time by prison officers if she goes anywhere. Sometimes she sits in the communal areas on her own. "No one talks to her because everyone knows who she is and what she did, even if she has changed her name. When I was there, she tried to make friends with the other women and gave them gifts, like vapes, but she was rejected. She likes to watch nature documentaries on the TV in her cell, especially ones about birds." In the hope of distancing herself from her evil crimes, West reportedly paid £36 to change her name to Jennifer Jones. It's understood she changed her name by deed poll in December last year and told friends it's her way of moving on. However, everyone knows her real identity at the women-only HMP New Hall near Wakefield in West Yorkshire. Some inmates spurn her attempts at friendship, and she often eats tomato soup in her cell alone for breakfast, before spending most of her time in her cell knitting and talking to the TV, because she can barely walk. West is now being held in a special unit at New Hall known as Rivendell House, where 30 prisoners each have an en-suite cell and are allocated a laptop which they can use to order food from. The communal areas are also said to be "more inviting" than other blocks in the prison, according to inspection reports. Netflix released a new documentary titled Fred and Rose West A British Horror Story earlier this month. It delves into the nightmarish deeds of the Wests from their unassuming home in Gloucester during the '80s and '90s. The three-part series, which utilises over 50 hours of previously unseen and unheard police interview tapes from 107 interrogations, promises to cast new light on the murders of at least 12 women by Fred and Rose West.
BBC News
4 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Rise in number of self-harm cases at Hull Prison, report finds
Incidents of self-harm have increased at HMP Hull, according to a report by the prisons inspectorate.A review in April measured progress at the jail since inspections in 2021 and Inspectorate of Prisons had previously found that prison bosses were not using data effectively to reduce violence or self-harm, but the latest report concluded that "reasonable progress" had been made to understand the causes of the problem, despite the rise in Ministry of Justice said it was addressing the concerns raised in the report. Previous inspections had identified a number of concerns, including inmates being locked up for more than 22 hours a day and a lack of involvement in meaningful activities or attending education inspectorate had also cited an increase in positive drug tests and "too many" prisoners being released with no homes to go recent follow-up visit found that "concerns had been taken seriously" and staff were working hard to improve the Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said the availability of drugs remained a "significant concern" and a threat to safety and said leaders were now using a drug strategy that focused on recovery and good support. Cells remained 'cramped' He also said the prison remained overcrowded, with cramped cells, and while there had been work to improve inmates not ending up homeless on their release from prison, the number of those released without homes to go to had not yet conclusion, Mr Taylor said: "Leaders were committed to driving improvement at Hull and this independent review of progress indicated that their hard work was paying off in many important areas."HMP Hull houses about 900 remanded or newly-convicted men and vulnerable prisoners.A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "While we have seen notable improvements since the last inspection, we fully acknowledge the challenges that remain at HMP Hull."The spokesperson added that efforts were being made to address the concerns that had been raised, including training staff to reduce the risk of self-harm and bringing in reforms to reduce pressure on prisons. Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
The Guardian view on young offenders: amid rising violence, they need support to change
The recent deterioration of conditions for young offenders has been overshadowed by the wider crisis engulfing prisons in England and Wales. But the accounts given to the Guardian by three mothers of sons who are currently in HMP Swinfen Hall, in Staffordshire, offer a disturbing insight into the exceptionally high levels of violence that have become normalised. Their descriptions of 'constant fear', casual knifings and 'drugs and knives everywhere' are chilling. Two of the women said that they agreed with the decision to jail their sons. But reading their testimony, which echoes the findings of a recent prison inspectorate survey, it is impossible to believe that any rehabilitative purpose is being served. The suggestion by one of the women that her son is becoming more violent rather than less due to the conditions rings alarmingly true, and is in line with the conclusion of David Gauke's independent review of sentencing that prisons are failing to reduce reoffending. Men's prisons are often dangerous places, with last month's attack on prison officers by Hashem Abedi at HMP Frankland just one example of the risks faced by staff as well as inmates. In parts of the youth justice estate – which holds those aged up to 21 in young offender institutions (YOIs), secure training centres and council-run secure children's homes – the problem is particularly acute. The state's special responsibility towards children, and the importance of providing second chances to those convicted when young, means this failing system requires an action plan of its own. Of the current youth custody population, 53% are minority ethnic and 63% have spent time in care. Ministers agreed in March that girls would no longer be held in YOIs, following another report. But as 97% of young people in jail are male, they are the bigger problem. Overcrowding is not an issue in youth prisons as it is in adult ones. But the lack of suitable educational provision for a group of young men who desperately need it, more than half of whom have special needs, is nothing short of tragic. So is the amount of time that many spend locked in their cells. Staff shortages are one reason why violence is so out of control that ministers recently agreed to the use of pepper spray in some circumstances. The rate of assaults on staff, which is 14 times higher than in men's prisons, can partly be explained by the fact that more than two-thirds of those in YOIs are there for violent offences. But it is clear from recent inspection reports that the number of 'keep-aparts', who are not allowed to mix due to the risk of fights, is unsustainable. The youth custody population is less than a quarter of what it was 15 years ago, so there has been progress as well as decline. Since the threshold for custody has been significantly raised, these institutions are bound to be challenging places. But Mr Gauke's review noted that young people's impressionable natures mean that they have both a higher rate of reoffending than adults and also higher potential to desist. As ministers plan their sentencing reforms, boys in custody must not be written off.
