By C1 Staff
BRITAIN — The Ministry of Justice has announced harsher measures for prisoners who carry out assaults.
The BBC reports that guidelines are being worked out toward securing more convictions for violent offenses in prisons and young offenders institutions in England and Wales.
Priority will be given to prosecuting those who assault staff.
The Howard League, a criminal justice charity, said the government should be focusing on addressing staff shortages in order to reduce violence behind bars.
Figures show assaults on staff rose by 12 percent in the year up to June 2014; from 3,065 incidents to 3,427.
“Clear guidance” offered by the Prison Service, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Association of Chief Police Officers is intended to indicate crimes that must be considered for prosecution:
- Prisons should provide statements for use by the CPS in court, explaining the impact of the crime on the jail in question
- There should be greater use of victims’ personal statements to allow the victim to summarise the impact the crime has had on them
- Prosecutors should remind the courts of existing guidelines recommending serving prisoners receive a sentence consecutive to an existing offence, particularly for violent crimes.
The measures are expected to come into full force in April 2015 and Prisons Minister Andrew Selous says they “will ensure that those that attack staff are prosecuted and brought fully to justice.”
Not everyone agrees with the idea, however; the Prison Officers Association has blamed staff cuts for increasing violence and says 90 wardens a month are leaving their jobs due to fear for the safety.
Those with the Howard League say that overcrowding and staff shortages should be addressed, rather than harsher penal measures.
The charity’s chief executive, Frances Cook, said prisons were “grossly overcrowded,” with adult men living in shared cells “the size of a toilet.”
“They don’t get out of the cell, and these are young men who have lots of energy, and you’re just asking them to lie idle on a bunk for months on end,” she said.
“And as one prison officer said to me, if you treat people like that they come out fighting.”