950 prison assaults ‘must be seen in context’

PRISON boss Brian Purcell said there were almost 1,000 recorded assaults in the prison system last year.

But he said this number of assaults should be seen in the context of the number of prisoners passing through the system every year.

The director general of the Prison Service said there were 800 assaults by prisoners on other inmates last year and a further 150 assaults by prisoners on prison officers.