Latest news with #MarkFairhurst
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Taser trial for prison officers to tackle violence
Specially trained staff in male prisons in England and Wales will be issued with Tasers as part of a new trial to clamp down on violence. The pilot comes as new figures obtained by the BBC show more than £20m has been paid out in damages over five years to staff and prisoners who have been assaulted. Ministers say they will look at whether the electric stun guns should be more widely used after the trial this summer. The Prison Officers' Association (POA) said the cost of the "intolerable" levels of violence was an issue the government needed to tackle with a sense of urgency and the use of Tasers was long overdue. Speaking after watching a demonstration of the technology at a training facility in Oxfordshire, Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government would not allow jails to be controlled by fear or disorder. "We're already rolling out protective body armour and by trialling Tasers we're making sure staff have the tools they need to keep themselves safe." Mark Fairhurst, national chairman of the POA, said: "Prisons have been overcrowded for decades, which leads to a lack of activity spaces for prisoners leading to boredom, drug abuse and violence. "Staff must be equipped with the personal protective equipment they need to quell violence and prevent life-changing injuries." The Tasers will be issued to a specialist national unit, which will respond to complex and serious incidents in men's prisons where there is a risk to safety, including hostage situations and riots. Severe PTSD after attack The intervention follows an attack on three prison officers in April at HMP Frankland in County Durham. Former officer Claire Lewis, who is still affected by severe PTSD after being stabbed by a prisoner 15 years ago, is welcoming the Taser roll-out in limited situations. She said: "Tasers are a great piece of kit, however, only in an environment whereby it's a planned extraction or if there's an assault on a wing." Ms Lewis, who also worked at HMP Frankland, is campaigning for all officers to have stab-proof vests. "If I'd have got a vest on when I was attacked, I would not have received the serious injury I did to my back - it narrowly missed my spinal cord." The latest Ministry of Justice figures showed the number of staff assaulted in adult prisons across England and Wales hit a new peak last year. Between 2020 and 2024 there were 334 compensation claims for prisoner-on-prisoner assaults, 232 prisoner-on-staff cases and 104 claims of staff assaulting inmates, according to a BBC freedom of information request. Joan - not her real name - a former prison worker in south-east England, said: "They used to use snooker balls in socks, now they use full cans of drinks in socks to attack each other, "They make knives out of tuna cans. I did see an officer get kettled, which means hot water thrown over him." The Prison Service says it is also ramping up the number of full lockdown searches in high-security jails to stop more of the contraband which fuels violence behind bars. Last month anti-drone measures such as new netting and reinforced windows were announced. President of the Prison Governors' Association Tom Wheatley backed the Taser trial for specialist officers, but not a wider roll-out to staff. "If they were issued to all officers on a daily basis, it could carry additional risk," he said. "Certainly not issued more generally, because they form a threat item, so if somebody managed to get a Taser off a member of staff, that would be a real concern to us." Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. More on this story Tasers in prisons to be trialled after Abedi attack Surge in call-outs for specialist prison squad Bold spending needed to halt prison crisis - union Manchester Arena bomber attacks prison officers Related internet links The POA Ministry of Justice
BBC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Taser trial for prison staff to tackle violence behind bars
Specially trained staff in male prisons in England and Wales will be issued with Tasers as part of a new trial to clamp down on pilot comes as new figures obtained by the BBC show more than £20m has been paid out in damages over five years to staff and prisoners who have been say they will look at whether the electric stun guns should be more widely used after the trial this Prison Officers' Association (POA) said the cost of the "intolerable" levels of violence was an issue the government needed to tackle with a sense of urgency and the use of Tasers was long overdue. Speaking after watching a demonstration of the technology at a training facility in Oxfordshire, Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government would not allow jails to be controlled by fear or disorder."We're already rolling out protective body armour and by trialling Tasers we're making sure staff have the tools they need to keep themselves safe." Mark Fairhurst, national chairman of the POA, said: "Prisons have been overcrowded for decades, which leads to a lack of activity spaces for prisoners leading to boredom, drug abuse and violence."Staff must be equipped with the personal protective equipment they need to quell violence and prevent life-changing injuries."The Tasers will be issued to a specialist national unit, which will respond to complex and serious incidents in men's prisons where there is a risk to safety, including hostage situations and riots. Severe PTSD after attack The intervention follows an attack on three prison officers in April at HMP Frankland in County officer Claire Lewis, who is still affected by severe PTSD after being stabbed by a prisoner 15 years ago, is welcoming the Taser roll-out in limited said: "Tasers are a great piece of kit, however, only in an environment whereby it's a planned extraction or if there's an assault on a wing." Ms Lewis, who also worked at HMP Frankland, is campaigning for all officers to have stab-proof vests. "If I'd have got a vest on when I was attacked, I would not have received the serious injury I did to my back - it narrowly missed my spinal cord." The latest Ministry of Justice figures showed the number of staff assaulted in adult prisons across England and Wales hit a new peak last 2020 and 2024 there were 334 compensation claims for prisoner-on-prisoner assaults, 232 prisoner-on-staff cases and 104 claims of staff assaulting inmates, according to a BBC freedom of information - not her real name - a former prison worker in south-east England, said: "They used to use snooker balls in socks, now they use full cans of drinks in socks to attack each other,"They make knives out of tuna cans. I did see an officer get kettled, which means hot water thrown over him."The Prison Service says it is also ramping up the number of full lockdown searches in high-security jails to stop more of the contraband which fuels violence behind month anti-drone measures such as new netting and reinforced windows were announced. President of the Prison Governors' Association Tom Wheatley backed the Taser trial for specialist officers, but not a wider roll-out to staff."If they were issued to all officers on a daily basis, it could carry additional risk," he said."Certainly not issued more generally, because they form a threat item, so if somebody managed to get a Taser off a member of staff, that would be a real concern to us."
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Grocery e-commerce sales jump nearly 30% in June
This story was originally published on Grocery Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Grocery Dive newsletter. Online grocery sales jumped nearly 28% in June compared to the year prior, while in-store sales slipped, according to Brick Meets Click and Mercatus' latest monthly report. All three receiving methods — delivery, pickup and ship-to-home — reported sales gains of at least 25%. Walmart and mass retailers as a whole continue to threaten traditional grocers, with Mercatus executive Mark Fairhurst stating that June's results 'should be a wake-up call' to regional grocers. While U.S. e-grocery sales increased 27.6% last month to $9.8 billion, in-store grocery sales fell slightly due to the combined impact of the surge of digital orders and consumers shifting where they primarily purchase groceries, according to the report. Overall grocery spending per household rose less than 3% during the final week of June 2025 compared to the same period the year prior, indicating that in-store grocery sales across retail formats saw a decline, according to Brick Meets Click and Mercatus. However, supermarkets were hit hard by a shift in where consumers buy most of their groceries. While Walmart saw a nearly 1 percentage point rise in the share of households that indicated the mass retailer was their primary grocery store, and hard discounters like Aldi gained almost 1.5 percentage points, supermarkets lost over 2 percentage points, per the report. The growing competition from mass and discount retailers carries over to e-grocery results, as well, Brick Meets Click and Mercatus found. One in four households that ordered groceries online from supermarkets also did so from Walmart in June, up 400 basis points year-over-year. On top of that, cross-shopping between traditional grocery stores and Walmart has risen every June since 2020 — which is when Brick Meets Click began measuring and monitoring this shopping indicator, the firm said. Overall, delivery saw a 29% year-over-year growth in June sales, reaching $3.8 million, which Brick Meets Click and Mercatus credited to strong growth in the segment's monthly active user base as well as gains in order frequency and average order value. 'June's strong results signal that this sustained surge in eGrocery sales, particularly in Delivery, is likely to continue because Delivery is now effectively free for many users,' Brick Meets Click Partner David Bishop said in a statement. Pickup also saw growth, with sales increasing 25% year-over-year to $4.3 billion, driven by increases to its monthly active user base, order frequency and average order value. Ship-to-home, meanwhile, saw sales increase 33% to $1.7 billion with its monthly active user base expanding faster than the delivery segment's, per the report. Delivery and ship-to-home both increased their sales share, with the former currently representing 38% of e-grocery sales and the latter 18%. Pickup, however, saw its share decline for the second straight year, dropping 110 basis points to 44%. The report is based on a Brick Meets Click survey of 1,496 adults conducted June 29-30, as well as a survey by the firm in June 2024 of 1,744 people. According to Brick Meets Click, despite the grocery channel reporting year-over-year improvements in building engagement through delivery and pickup, mass retailers still have a more than 10-point advantage in delivery, with Walmart continuing to attract new online customers who primarily buy groceries from supermarkets. Fairhurst, chief growth marketing officer at Mercatus, suggested that regional grocers leverage their customer data as a competitive advantage. The sharp rise of cross-shopping between traditional supermarkets and Walmart underscores 'the urgent need to defend your customer base on every channel by owning the relationship at each touchpoint,' Fairhurst said. Recommended Reading How grocers can level the playing field against Walmart in e-commerce Sign in to access your portfolio
Miami Herald
11-06-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Delivery continues to fuel grocery e-commerce growth
Dive Brief: Delivery fueled the bulk of grocery e-commerce's 27% year-over-year growth in May, according to the latest monthly report by Brick Meets Click and segment's sales surged more than 70% compared to May 2024, while ship-to-home increased more than 15% and pickup fell nearly 4%.Delivery's strength helped cushion what the firms had expected would be a larger month-over-month decline in grocery e-commerce sales for May, which ended up being only 12% off from April. Dive Insight: Deep discounts on annual membership and subscription plans continue to power delivery's sales growth, the firms noted. The channel has been the primary beneficiary of several membership and subscription offers over the last 12 months, spurring increased customer adoption of grocery e-commerce, Brick Meets Click and Mercatus noted. With $3.9 billion in sales last month, the channel saw "sizable gains" in its user base, a double-digit increase in order frequency and higher average order values compared to 2024, the report noted. Delivery accounted for roughly 45% of grocery e-commerce sales in May, up nearly 13 percentage points from the year-ago period. Ship-to-home seemed to benefit from delivery's boom, posting gains in its user base, higher order frequency and higher average order values, the report noted. "The ability to buy products from pure-plays at prices on par with physical stores and enjoy free shipping from an expanding range of providers is likely one factor triggering higher demand" for ship-to-home, the firms noted. Meanwhile, pickup saw a dip in sales growth driven by a drop in order frequency and slightly lower average order values, resulting in the channel's sales share shrinking 11 percentage points compared to last year to account for 37% of grocery e-commerce sales. Totaling $8.7 billion, grocery e-commerce sales in May came in 27% higher than the same time last year but below the $9.8 billion recorded the month prior. The 12% sales dip from April to May was less severe compared to the 20% and 16% month-to-month declines recorded between the same months in 2024 and 2023, respectively, the firms noted. Brick Meets Click and Mercatus noted that May marked the first month since August 2024 when grocery e-commerce monthly sales came in below $9.5 billion, but added that seasonal patterns can account for sales fluctuations. "These results show how quickly shopper demand has shifted to Delivery over the last 12 months, raising the stakes for regional grocers," said Mark Fairhurst, chief growth marketing officer at Mercatus. "While collaborating with delivery platforms is often essential for grocers, the key is to ensure that these partnerships strengthen – not weaken – their connection with the customer." The report is based on a survey of 1,488 shoppers from May 30-31. Copyright 2025 Industry Dive. All rights reserved.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Officers could be murdered in jail attacks
Prison officers need to have stronger protection against attacks by inmates, their union has demanded after four assaults in a week. In the latest, at HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire on Friday, an officer had to be airlifted for emergency surgery after being stabbed. Three others were hurt over two days at HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire. Now Mark Fairhurst, of the Prison Officers' Association (POA), has said prisoners who pose the highest risk should be "totally locked down". "It's only a matter of time before one of my colleagues is murdered on duty," he added. Mr Fairhurst, the POA's national chair, told BBC Breakfast: "We know our jails are awash with all kinds of illicit items, but we very rarely lock them down." He called for facilities like so-called supermax prisons in the US, in which dangerous inmates are locked up and only have limited access to recreation and other facilities outside their cells. Rise in assaults on prison staff by inmates High-security unit inmates barred from kitchens after attack Prison violence harming rehabilitation - families After Friday's stabbing, West Mercia Police said initial inquiries suggested it was "isolated" and was not being treated as terrorism, and had followed a disagreement between an inmate and staff. In Cambridgeshire, two of the three injured officers had boiling water thrown over them. Responding to those attacks, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) condemned them as "unacceptable". "We will not tolerate assaults on hard-working prison officers and will always push for the strongest punishments against perpetrators," it said. Concerns had already been raised over increased violence in prisons in recent months. In April, the government suspended access to kitchen facilities for high-security inmates, after Manchester Arena bomber Hashem Abedi threw hot oil at officers and stabbed them with a blade, at HMP Frankland in County Durham. The union leader linked the violence to increasing amounts of contraband finding their way into jails, often dropped by drones flying over the prison estate. "Why are our air spaces not tightened? Why do we have ingress of drones in our prisons?" Mr Fairhurst asked. "Surely there must be technology out there that prevents drones entering air spaces?" Earlier this month, police made two arrests after a drone was seen circling above Long Lartin. Mr Fairhurst's warning echoed that of the chief inspector of prisons, who said in January that the issue was "a threat to national security" and that police had effectively "ceded airspace" to criminal gangs. The MoJ said it was "gripping the situation by investing in prison maintenance and security, working with the police and others to tackle serious organised crime". Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. Prison officer has emergency surgery after stabbing Prison staff attacks prompt police investigation Two arrested after drone spotted above prison Prison Officers' Association
