Improvised weapons were used in attacks by prisoners on other inmates and officers at HMP Frankland (Picture: Getty/Google Maps)
A catalogue of violence at one of Britain’s most high-security jails has revealed dozens of assaults – including a prisoner carrying out a hammer attack in a workshop.
The logs for HMP Frankland show inmates, some armed with makeshift weapons, attacked other prisoners, guards and staff in the 12 months up to the end of January this year.
In one disturbing incident, a prisoner launched an unprovoked assault on an officer using two improvised weapons, leaving him with multiple injuries.
Makeshift weapons including blades were used in a number of the 140 assaults which were recorded at the Category A jail in the village of Brasside, County Durham.
In one of the most serious outbreaks of violence, a prisoner assaulted another inmate by battering him over the head with a hammer in a workshop toilet, a log shows.
The attack took place on September 7 with no further details given in the dataset released by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) after a Freedom of Information Act request by Metro.co.uk.
Two other outbreaks of violence involved workshop tools, with a prisoner slashing another offender’s ear with a thin piece of wood in one case and a ‘scraper’ being used by the assailant in another.
Frankland, which has been dubbed ‘monster mansion’ because it has housed some of the UK’s most notorious criminals over the years, is part of a public sector jail estate which campaigners say is under pressure from overcrowding and run-down facilities.
Staff taking part in a strike over pay outside HMP Frankland prison in Brasside, Durham (Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA)
Grahame Morris MP, a member of the Justice Unions Parliamentary Group, whose constituency, Easington, is in the county, said: ‘I am deeply alarmed by the increase in prisoner violence in the last 12 months.
‘Assaults against staff are up 16%, and the total number of assaults are up 21% across the prison system.
‘Urgent measures must be taken to ensure the safety of prison officers and prisoners. It is reckless and irrational to provide items to dangerous prisoners that could be used as weapons.’
Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, told Metro.co.uk that the authorities should do ‘everything they can’ to make the jail safe.
Mr Neilson said: ‘While violence may be expected in a high-security prison like Frankland, which holds people who have committed very serious offences, it is nonetheless very concerning to hear of these incidents.
‘We hope that pressures elsewhere in the prison system don’t stop the authorities from doing everything they can to make Frankland as safe as possible, for both prisoners and staff.’
Violent incidents at HMP Frankland
A prisoner slashes an unnamed person across the neck with an improvised weapon found to be a prison knife with a blade melted into it
An inmate sprays his partner with liquid from two Lucozade bottles after they apparently had a disagreement
Four prisoners were reported to have attacked their target in a cell, with a resulting search finding two weapons
Three members of staff needed hospital treatment after they were attacked as they tried to relocate a prisoner.
An officer is said to have been punched in the face and attacked with improvised weapons as he unlocked a prisoner
In one of the latest attacks, an inmate slashed his target across the face and back of the leg with a razor melted into a toothbrush.
The blade severed one of the victim’s arteries, causing ‘major blood loss’, and left him needing hospital treatment following the assault, which took place in a cell on October 10.
Four prisoners were reported to have attacked their target in a cell in another incident recorded in the dataset, which has been heavily redacted.
Two weapons, including a blade made from a tin, were recovered after the incident, with officers needing to use force on three of the assailants after the attack on August 16 last year.
A series of attacks on inmates and staff took place at HMP Frankland over a 12-month period (Picture: David Goddard/Getty Images)
Another outbreak of violence involved a prisoner slashing a fellow inmate across the neck with an improvised weapon in an association room.
The implement was found to be a ‘prison issue knife with a blade melted into it’ according to the entry for June 11.
Violence broke out in a number of locations at the top security jail, with a prisoner reported to have assaulted his partner while she visited him.
A log states that he sprayed her with liquid from two Lucozade bottles ‘following what looked like a disagreement’ before standing up and throwing the containers at her.
He initially refused to go back to his wing after being removed from the visitors’ centre, before complying ‘after some deliberation’.
The inmate was ‘placed on report’ for assault, according to a log for the incident on July 11 last year.
Staff were also in the line of fire, with one officer being subjected to an unprovoked assault as he unlocked a prisoner for a meal.
The worker was said to have been punched in the face and attacked with two improvised weapons on January 11.
Grahame Morris MP has said the outbreaks of violence at Frankland are part of a familiar pattern of violence at jails (Picture: Jess Hurd)
The log states that he received ‘numerous injuries’, including a suspected broken nose, lacerations, stab wounds to his torso and a broken finger.
Another officer was said to have been punched in the face as they restrained the culprit.
Three members of staff needed hospital treatment after they were attacked as they tried to relocate a prisoner on December 12.
He was said to have punched two in the head and one in the ribs.
The culprit was ‘placed on report’, according to the log.
Prison officers have found themselves on the receiving end of violent behaviour at jails in England and Wales (Generic image by Ian Waldie/Getty Images)
Frankland houses some of the UK’s most notorious prisoners including Wayne Couzens, who is serving a whole life term for the abduction, murder and rape of Sarah Everard, and serial killer Levi Bellfield, who is serving two whole life orders for three murders and an attempted murder.
Releasing the information, the MoJ said that the 140 assaults are defined as ‘any attack, be that physical or verbal’ and the figure was not final as the incidents have not undergone scrutiny.
The Prison Service maintains that violent prisoners can face tough punishments including a maximum of two years in prison.
Steps to reduce weapons, drugs and mobile phones include phone-blocking technology, additional X-ray body scanners and the provision of PAVA, a synthetic pepper spray.
A spokesperson said: ‘We do not tolerate violence in our prisons and assaults have fallen by 20 per cent since 2019.
‘We have also invested £100m into tough security measures to clamp down on the contraband that fuels violence behind bars and have equipped officers with PAVA spray and body-worn cameras to boost protection.’
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