The Ministry of Justice condemned the ‘cowardly and unacceptable’ attack and said they will push for the ‘strongest possible punishments’ for those at the centre of of the stabbing
Prison officers have reportedly been rushed to hospital after three were stabbed at HMP Isle of Wight – one in the neck with the attacker “narrowly missing the officer’s artery”.
The latest attack on prison guards is understood to have taken place within the Inpatient Unit on the Albany site in Newport last night. Two officers were rushed to St Mary’s Hospital on the island for urgent treatment moments. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police have launched an investigation.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice condemned the assault and said: “Attacks on our staff are cowardly and unacceptable which is why we push for the strongest possible punishments”. The prisoner has since been moved to a Segregation unit.
The lag reportedly stabbed the guards with an improvised weapon, also known as a shiv. Enquiries were today launched within the prison to establish the circumstances of the shocking incident at the island facility.
The Island Echo reports that a 32-year-old man sustained facial injuries, with a 28-year-old man needing treatment to his right arm. A third member of prison staff received minor injuries. It comes months after the Prison Officer’s Association urged action to protect staff “before there is a fatality”.
It was reported that one of the stab wounds “narrowly missed an officer’s artery” in his neck. Both individuals have now been discharged following Thursday’s attack. It was the latest worrying attack after a prison officer had their throat slashed by an inmate in May.
The incident happened at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes, said the prison officers union, and it is understood that a staff member required stitches after their neck and ear was cut in the attack. There was also another violent assault on an officer at the jail by an inmate who was locked up on terrorism charges.
Four guards were attacked with hot oil and homemade weapons at HMP Frankland in County Durham in April, with the inmate transferred to Belmarsh after the incident. And police are also now investigating an alleged attack on a prison officer at HMP Belmarsh by Southport triple killer Axel Rudakubana.
The 18-year-old allegedly used a kettle in his cell to heat water up and then poured boiling water over the officer on May 8. The prison officer who was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure, did not require further treatment and was discharged later that evening.
The Prison Service is conducting a “snap review” into the use of protective body armour for prison officers, and the use of tasers is being trialled in jails, after an attack on prison officers by Manchester Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi earlier this year.
