New figures on prison violence

The scale of prison violence has emerged from new figures which show riot squads were called into jails on a daily basis last year.

In response to questions from the Shadow Justice minister Andy Slaughter MP, the MoJ revealed prison governors in England and Wales called in special trained units to manage serious incidents 373 times in 2015 – that’s up two thirds on the number of incidents, 223, in 2014.

Worst affected were Leeds. Leicester, Parc and Wandsworth where serious violence erupted almost on a monthly basis.

Figures also reveal there was a prison hostage situation on average once a week.

A report last year by the Chief Inspector of Prisons described prisons as in the worst state for a decade blaming legal high, overcrowding, lack of time out of cells.

The Justice Secretary Michael Gove in an interview with Guardian said his reforms would not require the need to “manage down the prison population”.

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