Attacks by inmates in region's jails double in one year
The number of violent prisoner-on-prisoner assaults in jails across Staffordshire and the West Midlands more than doubled over the course of a year, it can be revealed.
The figures, which relate to HMP Featherstone, HMP Birmingham and HMYOI Brinsford, show a dramatic increase in the number of incidents involving inmates attacking each other, with 406 fights recorded in 2011 compared with just 186 the year before.
The statistics, which were obtained by the Express and Star through a Freedom of Information request, show there were 220 assaults recorded in HMYOI Brinsford alone, an increase of 184 on the previous year. And HMP Birmingham also showed a rise, with 129 assaults reported representing an increase of 36 on the 2010 figures.
The trend continued at HMP Featherstone, which had 62 assaults compared to 57 the previous year.
It is the highest number of assaults recorded in the three prisons since 2008, when a ten-year-high 520 attacks took place.
Sexual assaults and attacks on prison officers are excluded from the figures.
Karen Royster, spokesperson for the National Offender Management Service, said: "We will not tolerate any violence in prison and are investigating the recent increase in the number of serious assaults on staff.
"Nationally the rate of assaults has fallen to its lowest in 10 years but we are not complacent. We have systems in place to deal with perpetrators quickly and robustly, and are comprehensively reviewing how we manage violence in prisons with a view to introducing further improvements."