‘Keep violent inmates separate’

VIOLENT prisoners need to be segregated urgently from other inmates to limit their grip inside jails, prison officers said yesterday.

The Prison Officers’ Association (POA) claimed prison management were not recognising the reality of violence and were questioning whether injuries sustained by staff occurred on duty.

Speaking at the POA annual conference yesterday union president Jim Mitchell said prisons were becoming more violent and there were worrying trends in staff intimidation, seen most recently when bullets were sent to named officers at Mountjoy prison last February.