Call for prison officers to carry batons as violence in jails soars

'It makes no sense. You can carry a baton on Monday and Tuesday but not on Wednesday,' one prison officer said.

Violence in prisons is escalating with a 137% increase in incidents in three years.

Last year there were 891 violent incidents in prisons — 110 assaults on staff, 663 prisoner-on-prisoner assaults, and 118 restraint interventions. In 2022, there were 606 violent incidents, in 2021 there were 401, and in 2020 there were 376.