11 Nov 2017
A member of staff in Scotland’s prisons is assaulted every two days by an inmate, new figures have revealed.
Information obtained by the Scottish Conservatives has revealed there were 190 prisoner-on-staff attacks in 2016/17.
Today, shadow justice secretary Liam Kerr is visiting HMP Kilmarnock to discuss with staff how to reduce the level of assaults, and make them safer during the course of their working day.
Scottish Prison Service statistics show, in the past three years, there have been a total of 564 assaults on workers across the country’s prisons.
And while the number dropped slightly last year, the Scottish Conservatives said more action was still needed to make prison officers and guards safer.
Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary Liam Kerr said:
“We know that prisons can be high-risk places for people to work.
“But it’s shocking that staff are being exposed to this much danger in the course of their working day.
“They do a fantastic job, a vital job, and one in which they deserve more protection.
“That’s something I’ve been raising as part of my visit to Kilmarnock today.
“Any prisoner who’s attacked a member of staff needs to be dealt with severely, so they know the consequences of such action just simply won’t be worth it.”
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