A NEW investigation has revealed prison staff claims against Gloucestershire’s HMP Leyhill have cost over £15k since 2021, for injuries relating to assault by inmates.

Solicitor group Accident Claims obtained figures by Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to the HM Prison and Probation Service. It found over the past three years, claim costs against the prison have totalled £15,569.60.

The group said while prisons have processes designed to minimise the risk of injury to prison officers, there are times when these processes fail, and an accident or assault takes place.

JF Law solicitor Lucy Parker said: "Prison staff face a unique and challenging environment daily.

“When they are injured due to negligence, whether it's an assault by an inmate, a slip and fall, or inadequate safety measures, they have the right to seek compensation.

“It's crucial for prison staff to understand their legal rights and seek professional legal advice to ensure their claim is handled fairly."

HM Prison Leyhill is a category D men's prison and currently has a population of over 400 inmates. Nationally, the prison population has increased annually for the last thirty years, rising from 43,000 in 1994 to over 88,000 in 2024.

Despite this, the number of officers employed to care for and protect those committed by the Courts has barely changed.

Accident Claims said this imbalance in staff numbers has resulted in disturbing figures as, according to the Ministry of Justice, there were 114 assaults on prison staff per 1,000 prisoners in 2023/24.

Figures gathered by the HM Prison and Probation Service also showed 1628 claims have been lodged against prisons across the UK in the last five years, 592 of which have been settled.

The most common claims were assaults by prisoners, with 637 submissions, followed by slip, trips and falls, as well as Control and Restraint claims.

Many campaigners argue that investing in safer prison conditions may reduce the overall number of compensation claims and save taxpayer money.

Peter Dawson of the Prison Reform Trust told the Byline Times: “Our prison system is failing on every front, as these numbers show.

“But unusually this is a public service which could be fixed by reducing demand rather than increasing supply.

“The political love affair with imprisonment as a symbol of toughness lies at the root of the problem, and both main parties are to blame.”

The news comes following last year’s controversial ‘Operation Early Dawn’; the government’s ‘early release scheme’ for prisons across England and Wales.

The operation resulted in around 1,700 convicts walking out of prison in England and Wales after serving 40 per cent of their sentence.

You can access the full research of claims against prisons, conducted by Accident Claims via its website.

More information about the government’s Operation Early Dawn is also available online.