Taser trial for prison staff to tackle violence behind bars

Specially trained staff in male prisons in England and Wales will be issued with Tasers as part of a new trial to clamp down on violence.

The pilot comes as new figures obtained by the BBC show more than £20m has been paid out in damages over five years to staff and prisoners who have been assaulted.

Ministers say they will look at whether the electric stun guns should be more widely used after the trial this summer.

The Prison Officers’ Association (POA) said the cost of the “intolerable” levels of violence was an issue the government needed to tackle with a sense of urgency and the use of Tasers was long overdue.

Speaking after watching a demonstration of the technology at a training facility in Oxfordshire, Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government would not allow jails to be controlled by fear or disorder.

“We’re already rolling out protective body armour and by trialling Tasers we’re making sure staff have the tools they need to keep themselves safe.”

Mark Fairhurst, national chairman of the POA, said: “Prisons have been overcrowded for decades, which leads to a lack of activity spaces for prisoners leading to boredom, drug abuse and violence.

“Staff must be equipped with the personal protective equipment they need to quell violence and prevent life-changing injuries.”

The Tasers will be issued to a specialist national unit, which will respond to complex and serious incidents in men’s prisons where there is a risk to safety, including hostage situations and riots.

The intervention follows an attack on three prison officers in April at HMP Frankland in County Durham.

Former officer Claire Lewis, who is still affected by severe PTSD after being stabbed by a prisoner 15 years ago, is welcoming the Taser roll-out in limited situations.

She said: “Tasers are a great piece of kit, however, only in an environment whereby it’s a planned extraction or if there’s an assault on a wing.”

Ms Lewis, who also worked at HMP Frankland, is campaigning for all officers to have stab-proof vests.

“If I’d have got a vest on when I was attacked, I would not have received the serious injury I did to my back – it narrowly missed my spinal cord.”

The latest Ministry of Justice figures showed the number of staff assaulted in adult prisons across England and Wales hit a new peak last year.

Between 2020 and 2024 there were 334 compensation claims for prisoner-on-prisoner assaults, 232 prisoner-on-staff cases and 104 claims of staff assaulting inmates, according to a BBC freedom of information request.

Joan – not her real name – a former prison worker in south-east England, said: “They used to use snooker balls in socks, now they use full cans of drinks in socks to attack each other,

“They make knives out of tuna cans. I did see an officer get kettled, which means hot water thrown over him.”

The Prison Service says it is also ramping up the number of full lockdown searches in high-security jails to stop more of the contraband which fuels violence behind bars.

Last month anti-drone measures such as new netting and reinforced windows were announced.

President of the Prison Governors’ Association Tom Wheatley backed the Taser trial for specialist officers, but not a wider roll-out to staff.

“If they were issued to all officers on a daily basis, it could carry additional risk,” he said.

“Certainly not issued more generally, because they form a threat item, so if somebody managed to get a Taser off a member of staff, that would be a real concern to us.”