Latest news with #prisonofficers
Telegraph
an hour ago
- General
- Telegraph
Front-line prison officers to wear stab vests after string of attacks
Front-line prison officers in high security jails are to be issued with stab vests after a series of knife attacks on staff, the Justice Secretary has announced. Shabana Mahmood told MPs that all prison officers working in specialist units where terrorists and dangerous offenders were isolated would be equipped with body armour. The move has been recommended by a rapid review ordered by Ms Mahmood after Hashem Abedi, the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber, attacked three officers with two makeshift knives and hot cooking oil at the high-security HMP Frankland jail in Co Durham. Last week, an officer at Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire was seriously injured when he was stabbed by an inmate. The weapon was believed to have been brought into the high-security jail by a drone. Ms Mahmood said stab vests would initially be issued to officers in separation centres where the most dangerous terrorists were held, of which there are three in high-security jails. Officers will also be provided with body armour in close supervision centres and segregation units, which are used to isolate inmates in the eight high-security jails in England and Wales. The review is understood to say that more evidence is needed to determine whether the stab vests should be issued more widely. Ms Mahmood told MPs: 'This is my initial response to the review but I will set out further action on body armour in due course.' Review 'must go further' Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, urged Ms Mahmood to go further after he commissioned a report recommending that all front-line officers should be issued with stab vests. 'When will she have the backs of all our brave prison officers by giving each and every one of them the protection that they need in the form of high-collar, stab-proof vests, not just a privileged few in the most limited circumstances?' he said. The Ministry of Justice has already suspended the use of kitchens in separation units after Abedi is believed to have crafted his knives out of a baking tray. It is also planning a trial of Tasers in jails. 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, who is serving life for his part in the murder of 22 people in the Manchester Arena bombing of 2017. 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. Ms Mahmood also announced that Dame Vera Baird, the former victims' commissioner, will become interim chairman of the beleaguered Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) after it was heavily criticised over its handling of the scandal over Andrew Malkinson. The CCRC's blunders delayed the release of Mr Malkinson from jail for a rape that he did not commit, leading to the removal of its chairman Helen Pitcher.
Telegraph
a day ago
- General
- Telegraph
Dangerous terrorists should be held in military bases, not prisons
Robert Jenrick has faced a media storm with his remarks about the dangers faced by prison officers over the weekend, and what might be done to protect them from being attached by inmates. But much of this criticism has misconstrued what he has said, sometimes wilfully. I am the inspiration for some of Jenrick's more radical ideas, so I have perhaps a better perspective than the criminal justice commentariat who have ridden over the hill to take issue with him. I was asked by the shadow justice secretary to undertake a rapid review of the current threat to prison officers in general and those maimed by terrorists in particular. I was given no terms of reference, no steer and no interference at all in my full analysis which will be published online this afternoon. Jenrick is a politician for a party I used to be part of. Notwithstanding the politics, I believe him to be sincere in his concern about public servants who are closer to being murdered on duty by fanatics than at any time in the last 25 years. Labour's response that, as the architects of much of the ruination we see in the criminal justice system, the Tories should sit this one out, is cheap and dumb politics. Ordinary people are astounded that prison officers have less personal protection clothing than the security guard outside a Tesco metro. Officers are facing atrocious, obscene amounts of violence at record levels. 29 of them every day will be scalded, burned, stabbed, punched, slashed, covered in urine and excrement and otherwise broken in prisons where order and control has been ceded by the state and its senior officials. Appeasement is rewarded with extreme violence. This is nowhere more apparent than in our High Security prisons, which hold in total around 230 terrorists. People who want to kill for ideas are extremely difficult to manage, particularly if the sentences they are serving leave some with nothing to lose. But the balance between security and rehabilitation is skewed and it has had almost lethal consequences. The Manchester Arena bomber Hashem Abedi is a case in point. He has already received another sentence while in custody for an 'animalistic' attack on the manager of what is supposedly our most extreme custody, the High Security Unit at HMP Belmarsh. How he was subsequently allowed to allegedly fashion weapons to ambush and seriously injure staff at HMP Frankland will be a matter for the courts and a formal review led by Jonathan Hall KC. But it shows that HM Prison and Probation Service has neither the will nor the competence to manage ideologues who want to continue their jihad against agents of the state. The will stems from a collective psychosis within the upper echelons of the service that regards offenders such as Abedi as people whose human rights must be upheld above all other considerations. Competence relates to an unannounced visit to two High Security prisons which led the Chief Inspector of Prison Charlie Taylor to issue an unprecedented warning that such was the state of drone defences at HMP Manchester and Long Lartin – broken or missing entirely – that it was a 'threat to national security.' Why it took the accident of a random inspection to alert ministers to this scandalous degradation of security by officials is anyone's guess. These dire factors led me to a recommendation that didn't get much airtime but is perhaps the most radical. Drones with payloads of up to 15kg making cell window deliveries will be used to convey weapons into such places. You can get a lot of Semtex, pistols and ammunition for that and the consequences are utterly unthinkable. If I'm thinking about this, Islamist extremists are too as they represent the most potent threat. The latest assailant who stabbed a prison officer and seriously injured him at the weekend in HMP Long Lartin reportedly had the knife delivered by drone. This threat isn't theoretical, it is here now. Something must be done. The solution is a specially designed High Control Unit run by prison staff but located in a fully secure area, such as a military base to totally incapacitate the small number of ideologues who have the capacity and capability to kill. This is much better than the much-vaunted Supermax idea for all convicted terrorists. We had that in HMP Maze in Belfast, scene of the greatest jail break in British history.
The Independent
2 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Give prison officers the lethal weapons ‘they need', Jenrick says
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick has said prison officers dealing with violent inmates must get the lethal weapons 'they need' as he defended calls for specialist armed teams in jails. The Conservatives said secure armouries should be introduced at maximum security jails to be used as a last resort. They have also called for high-collar stab vests to be provided to frontline officers immediately, citing the threat from inmates after recent attacks on prison officers. Mr Jenrick said there is a growing risk that a prison officer could be kidnapped or murdered in the line of duty without his proposed reforms. 'We have to stop pussy-footing around Islamist extremists and violent offenders in jails,' he said in a statement. 'Give them Tasers, give them stun grenades, give them baton rounds and give them access to lethal weapons,' he told the Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme on Sky News. 'Let's ensure the officers have what they need,' he added. 'The Chief Inspector of Prisons himself has said that he can see a situation where people like Islamist terrorists get access through drones to weapons, to explosives, hold prison officers hostage, even kill officers. 'This is going to happen unless the Government take action.' Mr Jenrick commissioned counter-extremism expert and former prison governor Ian Acheson to carry out a rapid review into the violence. Mr Acheson said: 'The threat to officer safety is now intolerable and must be met decisively by the Government. 'The balance inside too many of our prisons has shifted away from control by the state to mere containment and the price is soaring levels of staff assaults and wrecked rehabilitation.' It come after attacks by high-profile inmates. Manchester Arena plotter Hashem Abedi targeted prison staff with boiling oil and homemade weapons in a planned ambush last month. Southport killer Axel Rudakubana allegedly attacked a prison officer at HMP Belmarsh earlier this month by pouring boiling water over them. Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has ordered a snap review into whether stab vests should be used more routinely, and a trial that will give specialised officers dealing with serious incidents Tasers is due to be launched this summer. Officers already have access to batons and Pava spray, a synthetic form of pepper spray, in men's prisons in the public sector. Asked whether he could see that the public would want him to take responsibility for failing prisons as a former government minister, Mr Jenrick told the BBC's Sunday Morning With Laura Kuenssberg programme: 'We should have done more, but look, what Labour are doing now is making the problem worse, and they are reaching for the easy lever of letting prisoners out early.' More than 10,000 prisoners were released up to 70 days early by the Tory government, according to Ministry of Justice figures. Under the End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) scheme, announced in October 2023, some prisoners could be freed 18 days before their conditional release date. That was increased to 35 days in March, and then to 70 days in May. The number of ECSL releases between October 17 and June 30 was 10,083, the data shows. Responding to the shadow justice secretary's comments, a Labour Party spokesperson said: 'Robert Jenrick is once again being totally dishonest about the Conservatives' dire record in a desperate attempt to distract from the crisis they left behind in our prison system. 'In 14 years they added fewer than 500 prison places in total and closed 1,600 cells in the high-security estate as assaults on prison officers soared and experienced officers quit. 'This Labour Government is cleaning up the mess the Conservatives created with a £4.7 billion investment to build new prisons and a zero-tolerance approach to violence in the system.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Prison officers should be armed, say Conservatives
Prison officers dealing with violent inmates should be armed, the shadow justice secretary has said. Specialist guards should have Taser stun guns and baton rounds - a less lethal alternative to traditional bullets - to give them "confidence" in handling threats, Robert Jenrick told the BBC. The Conservatives said secure armouries should be introduced at maximum security jails and used as a last resort. Prison officers in adult male prisons currently only carry an extendable baton and Pava, a synthetic pepper spray. Officers need protection from jail attacks - union Prison staff to demand electric stun guns in jails The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said some prison officers will use Tasers this summer on a trial basis, but argued that giving them lethal weapons would put them at greater risk. The Prison Officers' Association (POA), a union, called for stronger protection for staff after a string of attacks. It said stun guns should be made available to officers working in the UK's most dangerous jails. Speaking to the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, Jenrick said that without intervention it was "only a matter of time" before a prison officer was "held hostage and potentially killed". He added that under his proposals, officers would not be "walking the wings" with lethal weapons, but would "have access to them if they need them". The Conservative's call for officers to be armed follows a review conducted for the party by former prison governor Ian Acheson. Among other policies, the party also wants to see high-collar stab vests immediately rolled out to frontline officers. In response to the proposals, Labour said it was "cleaning up the mess" after the Conservatives' "dire record" in office. "In 14 years they added fewer than 500 prison places in total and closed 1,600 cells in the high-security estate as assaults on prison officers soared and experienced officers quit," a party spokesperson added. In his BBC interview, Jenrick, who held various ministerial roles in the last government, conceded that his party "should have done more" in office. "But we're in opposition now, it is my job to bring forward good, sensible solutions," he added. The MoJ said protective body armour is used in segregation units and specialist areas for situations that are deemed as high risk. It added that a "snap review" into whether it should be used more routinely will report in the coming days.
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Prison officers should be armed, say Conservatives
Prison officers dealing with violent inmates should be armed, the shadow justice secretary has said. Specialist guards should have Taser stun guns and baton rounds - a less lethal alternative to traditional bullets - to give them "confidence" in handling threats, Robert Jenrick told the BBC. The Conservatives said secure armouries should be introduced at maximum security jails and used as a last officers in adult male prisons currently only carry an extendable baton and Pava, a synthetic pepper spray. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said some prison officers will use Tasers this summer on a trial basis, but argued that giving them lethal weapons would put them at greater Prison Officers' Association (POA), a union, called for stronger protection for staff after a string of attacks. It said stun guns should be made available to officers working in the UK's most dangerous to the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, Jenrick said that without intervention it was "only a matter of time" before a prison officer was "held hostage and potentially killed".He added that under his proposals, officers would not be "walking the wings" with lethal weapons, but would "have access to them if they need them".The Conservative's call for officers to be armed follows a review conducted for the party by former prison governor Ian other policies, the party also wants to see high-collar stab vests immediately rolled out to frontline officers. 'Dire record' In response to the proposals, Labour said it was "cleaning up the mess" after the Conservatives' "dire record" in office."In 14 years they added fewer than 500 prison places in total and closed 1,600 cells in the high-security estate as assaults on prison officers soared and experienced officers quit," a party spokesperson his BBC interview, Jenrick, who held various ministerial roles in the last government, conceded that his party "should have done more" in office."But we're in opposition now, it is my job to bring forward good, sensible solutions," he MoJ said protective body armour is used in segregation units and specialist areas for situations that are deemed as high added that a "snap review" into whether it should be used more routinely will report in the coming days.
