Shropshire prison attacks double in one year
Assaults on fellow inmates and prisoner deaths are at their highest level in almost two decades at the county's only prison.
The figures released by the Ministry of Justice reveal that prisoner-on-prisoner violence was on the up last year at Stoke Heath Prison, near Market Drayton.
In 2015 there were 28 occasions of prisoners violently attacking fellow inmates, a jump from 12 in 2014, 15 in 2013, and more than three times the amount that took place in 2012 – at eight.
The figure marks a 16-year high for serious assaults at the prison.
In addition two deaths at the prison were reported last year, compared to zero in 2014, one in 2013, zero in 2012, and one in 2011.
The increase in deaths at the prison comes as Ministry of Justice statistics also showed a 30 per cent increase of deaths at English and Welsh prisons last year in comparison to the same time a year before.
Mayor of Market Drayton, Councillor David Minnery, said the figures were "concerning".
He said: "Clearly it's alarming to hear of anyone losing their life inside a prison, whether that's self-inflicted or as a result of somebody else. It's concerning and should not be happening."
As a result of the figures, Councillor Minnery said he would like to visit the prison to see what safety regimes are in place.
He said: "Because it's been some time since the last time I visited the prison, I'm not sure what procedures and regimes are in place there, so I can't possibly comment on that, so I would be interested in visiting so I know what's going on there."
Meanwhile, there were around four fights a week on average at HMP Featherstone, near the Shropshire border in 2015, a similar figure to that at HMP Oakwood in Wolverhampton.
At Oakwood there were 29 occasions of prisoners violently attacking fellow inmates, a jump from 18 in 2013 and 19 in 2014.
