Prisons in crisis: Meet the officers in fear for their lives every day

Mark Fairhurst, who sits on the National Executive Committee for the Prisoner Officers Association, described the current situation in prisons as 'horrendous'.

He spoke to the Express & Star as he revealed the pressures that prison officers are under and warned of a 'perfect storm' as prisoners are left to their own devices with a shortage of staff.

His comments come as this paper launched a series of features looking into the current problems facing the UK's prisons and what can be done to help turn them around.

• MORE: Inmate reveals brutal gang attack at HMP Featherstone

In his opening gambit, Mr Fairhurst said: "It is absolutely horrendous at the moment, with violence the big problem. The Ministry of Justice have statistics which tell their own story."

He is not wrong. As reported yesterday the MOJ's figures on safety in custody and prison populations make for grim reading.

Deaths double

The number of the deaths in prisons has nearly doubled in the last nine years. The number of assaults has increased by more than 50 per cent with serious assaults on staff doubling in the same period. The number of self-harm incidents has increased and have nearly tripled for men.

Then there is the population figures, which shows young offenders institute HMP Brinsford in Featherstone is 94 per cent full, Drake Hall in Eccleshall is 99 per cent full, Stafford is one prisoner off being full whilst Oakwood and Featherstone are both overcrowded. The three county prisons not oversubscribed, including Stafford and its one space, are part of just 43 out of the 150 across the country which have spaces.

As well as too many prisoners and a lack of staff, Mr Fairhurst says the type of prisoner being locked up now, ones who 'don't fear consequences', are also making life more difficult and dangerous for prison officers trying to keep control of the UK's prisons. He said: "This sharp increase in assaults has happened because of the reductions in staffing numbers since the budget cuts. We have had a 30 per cent reduction in funding and are expected to do more with less. But we are facing increasing violence and the thanks we get is no pay rise for seven years, in effect we have had a pay cut.

"The MOJ will say they have millions to invest in prisons but that is for new-build prisons. They would be better investing in the current prisons and heavily increasing staff numbers to help tackle the problems.

"I have never known it so bad. It is because of the type of prisoner that we are now locking up. They don't fear consequences and have no respect for anyone or anything. They don't take responsibility for their actions.

"What doesn't help is when we are assaulted we don't get the support we need. For example at Featherstone a female member of staff had boiling water with sugar thrown over her but instead of getting the support she needed she was dismissed for being unfit to work. This is happening all over with officers not getting the support."

Constantly on edge

As reported by the Express & Star, Sharon James, along with Michael Wallace, had jugs of boiling water with sugar thrown over her by Featherstone inmate Menelek Thompson in December last year. Thompson was reportedly angry at the amount of time he had spent in his cell that day and cooked up the solution because he knew it would stick to skin and intensify burns.

Miss James was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and lost her £29,000-a-year job, saying she was left 'constantly on edge'. Mr Wallace, who has worked at the prison for 26 years, had a week off work and said the premeditated attack had a massive impact on his life.

In response to the rising number of assaults on prison officers, Mr Fairhurst has called for equipment similar to that used by police forces.

He said: "Why can't we have CS spray, proportional use of Tasers, like the police have? All of this would help us to control violence. Prison officers are scared to use appropriate force to apprehend prisoners because of the fear of the consequences. I do not but others fear for their lives every day."

A perfect storm

An example of the consequences can be seen with the case of former footballer and Rugeley resident Vernon 'Big Vern' Allatt who was sacked as a prison officer from Featherstone. He used his baton and swung for a 'challenging' inmate five times after the prisoner had struck a fellow officer with a broom.

Mr Allatt made contact with the prisoner twice but he actions were deemed to be too much and he was dismissed, despite the inmate being convicted of assault. When asked about the issues of prisoners getting contraband into prisons, including drugs and mobile phones, Mr Fairhurst concluded: "With the lack of staff they can't carry out all the searches, they don't get time to interact with the prisoners and help them with their rehabilitation. Prisoners realise there is no staff around and know they are left to their own devices. It's a perfect storm if you will."

The lack of contact time between prisoner officers and inmates means prisons become more dangerous and prisoners are not getting the rehabilitation they need to settle back into life after release and to stop them re-offending.

This has been highlighted by the charity Prison Reform Trust who have identified this as a key area that needs addressing.

The Ministry of Justice, who oversee the UK's prisons, have pledged to tackle the 'levels of violence' in jails, insisting that safety in prisons is 'fundamental' and a 'vital part' of their reform plans under the new Justice Secretary Liz Truss MP. A spokesman added: "The Justice Secretary is determined to make sure our prisons are safe and places of rehabilitation."