3 days ago
Prison officers forced to wait for stab vests
Prison officers at risk of attack from terrorists and dangerous criminals are still waiting for stab vests, nearly two months after the Government announced they would be issued.
Ministers said at the beginning of June that front-line officers in high-security jails would be issued with the protective body armour after three officers were attacked with makeshift knives by Hashem Abedi, the Manchester Arena terrorist.
However, they have not yet been issued with the kit because each officer has to be measured before the vest is then moulded and stitched so that it perfectly fits them.
'It has to be individual fittings so it's comfortable and allows a range of movement,' said a prison source.
The disclosure came as Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, announced tasers would be issued to officers in the elite tactical response units who dealt with serious unrest and incidents in prisons.
The trial will be the first time prison officers have carried tasers, which fire two small barbed darts at an assailant to administer an electric shock that incapacitates them without serious injury.
The national tactical response groups (NTRGs) also wear stab vests, helmets, armoured gloves, aluminium batons, shields, pava pepper spray and smoke bombs.
The moves follow a surge in violence in prisons, with a 14 per cent increase in serious assaults on officers and a series of high-profile attacks on staff.
Abedi, who is serving life for his part in the murder of 22 people in the arena bombing of 2017, used knives and hot cooking oil to injure three officers, one of whom suffered life-threatening injuries, at high-security HMP Frankland in Co Durham.
Another officer at Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire was seriously injured when he was stabbed by an inmate, using a weapon believed to have been brought into the high-security jail by a drone.
The stab vests are being issued initially to officers in three high security jail separation centres, of which there are three, as well as segregation and close supervision units also in high security prisons. Officers also have the option of unfitted protective armour.
The Ministry of Justice suspended the use of kitchens in separation units after the attack by Abedi, who is believed to have crafted his knives out of a baking tray.
Ms Mahmood has commissioned Jonathan Hall, KC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, to explore ways of segregating dangerous offenders after the attack by Abedi.
The Prison Officers' Association has not only called for stab vests for staff but also for all terrorists and violent prisoners who assault officers to be held in US-style 'supermax' units or separate jails.
They would only be allowed out of their cells for one hour a day, handcuffed and supervised by three officers.
Mark Fairhurst, chairman of the Prison Officers Association (POA) welcome the taser trial but said it was 'pointless' without wider deployment.
He said: 'The POA are grateful that the Government are taking our concerns seriously and are piloting the use of tasers with our national response teams.
'This is a step in the right direction and highlights the imminent threat to life brave prison officers face on a daily basis. This trial must initiate the rollout locally of taser use.
'It is pointless a national response being several hours away if locally a taser is needed immediately to preserve life and combat threat.'
