Dartmoor prisoner holds guard hostage at knifepoint for three hours
The prison officer was released unharmed after one of the most serious outbreaks of violence this year - ODD ANDERSEN/AFPA prison officer was held hostage at knifepoint for three hours after being overpowered and handcuffed by an inmate in a jail’s high-security segregation unit.In what prison experts described as one of the most serious outbreaks of violence this year, the officer was overpowered after unlocking the prisoner to take him to an exercise yard at HMP Dartmoor.He was held hostage by the offender with the improvised knife to his throat, his hands tied with his own cuffs and forced to squat on the ground through the ordeal.National rapid response officers were called into the jail to negotiate with the prisoner, a career criminal with offences for violence, before the incident was defused after nearly three hours and the prison officer was released unharmed.The hostage crisis on Tuesday came as the prisons watchdog on Wednesday warned that overcrowding could lead to growing
A prison officer was held hostage at knifepoint for three hours after being overpowered and handcuffed by an inmate in a jail’s high-security segregation unit.
In what prison experts described as one of the most serious outbreaks of violence this year, the officer was overpowered after unlocking the prisoner to take him to an exercise yard at HMP Dartmoor.
He was held hostage by the offender with the improvised knife to his throat, his hands tied with his own cuffs and forced to squat on the ground through the ordeal.
National rapid response officers were called into the jail to negotiate with the prisoner, a career criminal with offences for violence, before the incident was defused after nearly three hours and the prison officer was released unharmed.
The hostage crisis on Tuesday came as the prisons watchdog on Wednesday warned that overcrowding could lead to growing levels of violence behind bars as well as more crime on Britain’s streets.
‘Increasing violence’
Publishing his report on the state of jails on Wednesday, Charlie Taylor, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: “Where prisoners are in very cramped conditions, where they’re not let out of their cells for anything like enough time, of course there is potentially a risk that we may get increasing levels of violence.”
He said public protection is “critical”, adding that if prisoners are not getting the support they need: “The risk is, of course, as soon as they leave the jail, that they can revert back to their reoffending ways, and that simply creates more victims of crime.”
Prof Ian Acheson, a former prison governor who worked at HMP Dartmoor and is also a trained negotiator, said there needed to be an investigation into how an improvised knife could be smuggled into what should have been the most secure part of the prison.
‘Catastrophic consequences’
“A hostage incident of this nature involving a bladed weapon in a segregation unit should be a ‘never’ event,” he said. “These units ought to be the most secure and highly supervised parts of the prison. My thoughts are with the officer who has suffered an appalling ordeal.
“But we must also see decisive action by Justice Secretary Alex Chalk to make sure the circumstances are fully investigated and not swept under the carpet as ‘one of these things’. Unlearned lessons can have catastrophic consequences.”
The prisoner, who is aged in his 30s, is expected to face criminal charges for the attack. Legislation introduced last year increases the maximum jail sentences for assaulting prison officers from one to two years.
There is growing concern about overcrowding combined with staff shortages, which is leading to prisoners being held more than 20 hours a day in their cells.
In his report, Mr Taylor said he was disappointed to see “empty workshops, overgrown farms and gardens, broken greenhouses and demotivated and disillusioned prisoners either locked in their cells or aimlessly stuck on the wing with nothing meaningful to do”.
‘Incredibly cramped’
Prisons including Brixton, Pentonville, Wandsworth, Winchester and Hull were “incredibly cramped”, Mr Taylor said, adding that there are “many prisoners in small cells which are designated for one person – that’s a 12ft by 6ft cell with an unscreened lavatory in the corner – and people locked up for 22, sometimes even as long as 23 hours, a day.
“That means that prisoners are not getting the rehabilitation support that they need. It means they’re locked away for long periods of time in their cell or in their wing, and we’re concerned both on the effect of prisoners while they’re locked up, but particularly on the effect to the public when they’re released.”
A Prison Service spokesman said: “As this report suggests, there is much more work to do but we are making significant progress and the proportion of prison leavers finding work six months after release has doubled, while the report also notes the positive impact of our tougher security measures.
“At the same time, we are recruiting up to 5,000 more prison officers and creating a prisoner education service to ensure offenders have the support and skills they need to turn away from crime for good.”
The spokesman said that thanks to the efforts of staff at HMP Dartmoor, the crisis was resolved safely.
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