Prison officer had finger amputated after inmate bite as assaults spiral

More than three-quarters of prison and justice workers have not received appropriate after-care after an assault at work, a grim survey shows.

An awful report by union Community details horrific assaults on prison staff, including an officer having his finger bitten with force and later having to have it amputated.

One officer said he had urine thrown over him, while another said he was bitten by a prisoner who said they had HIV.

Another case saw a prisoner choke an officer by wrapping a chain around their neck, while another involved a staff member being smashed in the head with a metal door frame.

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Community, which represents a range of justice workers, including prison and escort officers in services run by private providers, said 78% of their members said they had not received appropriate after-care following an assault.

This could include medical treatment, mental health or other support services.

Some 68.5% of their members said that their employer does not take the issue of assaults on staff seriously enough Some 88% said they want tougher responses for assaulting staff, the survey by Community found.

In the 12 months to December 2024, the rate of assaults on staff was 122 assaults per 1,000 prisoners (10,605 assaults on staff), up 13% from the 12 months to December 2023 to a new peak, official stats show.

In an interview with The , the union’s national secretary for the justice and custodial sector Gavin Miller said there needs to be a concerted effort to change the public's view of officers, saying there is a “blasé” response to assaults on prison staff.

Mr Miller said: “We were all out clapping for nurses in the , which absolutely we should have been doing.

“But really we should have also been clapping for police officers, firefighters, people who work in prisons, prison escort workers.

"It should have been all these people because they’re all the fabric of society. Prison workers don’t seem to get that acknowledgement.”

Mr Miller said assault in the workplace shouldn't ever be acceptable in a workplace, even a prison. He said there needed to be proper punishments for assaults as prison officers were leaving in their droves.

“I think, absolutely, that there needs to be an appropriate sanction, which would be conviction and maybe some element of compensation for the people being assaulted,” he added.

“I think it's terrible that we look the other way with this and I think the fact that these people don't feel like they get justice if it happens to them. Sadly, I think there is a bit of an acceptance within the prison estate of this."

It comes as police earlier this month launched an investigation after Southport killer Axel Rudakubana attacked a prison officer.

And last month counter-terrorism police began leading an investigation into an attack on three prison officers by Hashem Abedi, one of the evil men responsible for the Arena bombing. Justice Secretary said the use of tasers will be trialled in prisons after Abedi's attack.

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