Prisons in crisis as 74 attacks take place every day behind bars
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With prisons stretched to maximum capacity and staff struggling to cope, there were 26,912 assault incidents in English and Welsh prisons in 2023. Seventy-four assaults take place every day in jails across England and Wales, new figures laying bare the lack of order in the prison estate have shown.
![[HMP Wandsworth has been under intense scrutiny since the escape last year of Daniel Khalife]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/11/28/13/REINO_UNIDO-SOLDADO-ESPIONAJE_85354.jpg)
With prisons stretched to maximum capacity and staff struggling to cope, there were 26,912 assault incidents in English and Welsh prisons in 2023. Of these, 3,205 were deemed to be serious assaults, an average of eight every day, the figures showed. Almost 10,000 of the assaults were inflicted on staff, with 825 of these being classed as serious. The figures, revealed in House of Commons Library research, showed a significant increase in assaults compared with previous years.
![[Lib Dem justice spokesman Josh Babarinde said the Tories left Britain’s prisons in crisis]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/05/24/11/95e0ffb5-4df7-477c-bac5-c757bb7f3729.jpg)
In 2022, there were 21,015 total assaults, meaning there was a 28 per cent jump year on year. The research, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, also revealed the country’s most violent prisons. The beleaguered HMP Wandsworth, where former soldier Daniel Khalife escaped from last year, and where former prison officer Linda De Sousa Abreu was filmed having sex with an inmate, saw by far the most assaults of any prison, recording 1,044 total assaults. More than half of these, 571, were on staff.
HMP Berwyn in Wales has the next highest assaults with 783 and then Thameside with 667. The Independent has repeatedly highlighted the crisis facing prisons due to the combination of staff shortages and overcrowding. Earlier this year, this paper reported that the number of prison officers trained to deal with riots as part of so-called Tornado squads has plummeted by a third, with experts warning the decline would lead to more violence and disorder in prisons.
