Express & Star

HMP Featherstone: Staff assaulted and hostage situation develops after violence breaks out

Guards were assaulted and a hostage situation took place as trouble flared at 'one of the most violent' prisons in the country.

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An extra 20 staff were drafted in to help control escalating problems HMP Featherstone in Staffordshire, according to a trade union official.

It is understood the hostage situation involved up to seven prisoners locked up in one cell and that the trouble was so bad that a riot squad, known as the Tornado Team, were called in to the Category C prison, near Wolverhampton, to stop it on Wednesday.

Prison Officers Association (POA) spokesman Mark Fairhurst said that conditions at HMP Featherstone have recently deteriorated and that it is 'one of the most violent' in the country.

He said about 15 staff are assaulted by inmates inside the UK's prisons every day – and that as many as between three and four are injured every week at HMP Featherstone.

He said: "This week they had an incident on Wednesday which involved hostages, lots of fires and a two staff being assaulted.

"As far as the POA is concerned this just highlights the dangerousness.

"As a union we are not going to tolerate this any more and we will protect our members."

He added: "It must recruit more staff so they can do their job properly and safely.

"If anyone is trying to tell me we are not in a crisis, get real. We are in meltdown."

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "Safety in prisons is fundamental to the proper functioning of the justice system and a vital part of our reform plans. Violence against hard working and dedicated prison staff will not be tolerated. Any prisoners involved could face disciplinary action and be referred to the police."

As the Express & Star previously reported, the number of serious fights at the prison jumped to 23 in 2015 from 16 in 2014. There were just nine in 2013.

Last month a former inmate at HMP Featherstone was given a longer prison sentence after he hurled boiling water at two officers, upset he had not been allowed out of his cell earlier.

Menelek Thompson threw the water, which had been mixed with sugar, at the man and woman on December 3 last year.

Thompson worked in the prison's kitchens and used the sugar because he knew it would intensify burns because it would stick to scalded skin. He has since been moved to another prison, HMP Dovegate, near Uttoxeter.

He had already been serving eight year and three months for aggravated burglary - and was given a further two years and four months.

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