Violent incidents down at Stoke Heath prison but national levels reach new high

In the year to September 2017, the number of recorded assaults on staff and prisoners was 28,165, up 12 per cent from a year ago, according to Ministry of Justice figures released on Thursday.

The previous record - 27,193 - was recorded in the 12 months to June 2017.

At HMP Stoke Heath, near Market Drayton, assault incidents in the year to September 2017, were recorded as 152 - compared to 153 in 2016.

At nearby HMP Featherstone records dropped from 192 in 2016, to 147 assault incidents, and at HMP Oakwood dropped from 445, to 431 in the year to September 2017.

While, at HMP Brinsford there was a rise in reported assault incidents, from 366 in 2016, to 420 in the year to September 2017.

Of the latest total for the levels in England and Wales, 3,726 were serious assaults, a rise in 10 per cent.

The statistics also reveal that for every 1,000 prisoners, there were 91 incidents of assault against a member of staff.

The 7,828 assaults on staff, up 22 per cent on the previous year, also represent a record high.

In the same period, there were 20,346 prisoner-on-prisoner assaults, a rate of 238 per 1,000 inmates.

Cases where a prisoner and a member of staff were assaulted at the same time are recorded as single incidents in the overall total.

But the number of deaths in prison custody in England and Wales has fallen in the year to December 2017, down 17 per cent from 354 to 295. Three were homicides.

At HMP Stoke Heath there were four deaths in prison custody, compared to one the previous year.

At HMP Oakwood there were 10 deaths reported, while at HMP Featherstone there were four. No deaths were reported at HMP Brinsford.

The figures come amid fresh scrutiny of the state of jails in England and Wales, which have been hit by surging levels of violence, self-harm and drug use.

Last week, HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) condemned the "squalid" state of HMP Liverpool, describing conditions at the jail as the worst inspectors could remember.

The inspectorate also used a new "urgent notification" system for the first time to demand the Government take action at HMP Nottingham.

New prisons minister Rory Stewart said there is a need to "get back to basics" following too much "abstract" discussion about policy, and described the task of transforming the service as a five to 10-year project.