Two Prison Officers Hurt In 'Disturbance'

06:44, UK, Tuesday 11 January 2011

Riot police enter Littlehey Prison after two officers are injured by inmates

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By Ian Collier, Sky News Online

An investigation is underway after two prison officers were injured during a disturbance at Littlehey Prison, near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire.

One female prison officer was assaulted while a male officer had boiling water thrown in his face.
"It contained sticky sugar so it would stick to his skin," explained Ralph Vallerio, of the Prison Officers Association national executive.
"It has seriously burnt his face, but it hasn't stuck on his face."
A Prison Service spokesperson confirmed that both officers were treated at the prison hospital and have since been discharged.

He stated: "A number of prisoners at HMP Littlehey refused to return to their cells following an incident in which two staff were injured.
The disruption was resolved "with little incident" at around 9.30pm, according to the spokesman.
"There were no injuries to prisoners, and no further injuries to staff."
Damage to the young offenders wing was "very superficial.
"The perpetrators have been identified, and relocated to the segregation unit. They will be subject to disciplinary procedures."

Mr Vallerio claimed inmates set fire to part of the wing and started smashing windows.
"They have smashed tables, chairs, televisions, anything they can break," he said.

A spokesman for the POA said up to 60 prisoners were involved in the disturbance in the young offenders unit.
He added that there have been problems at the prison, including brawls and assaults, for the past 12 months.
A prison officer at the jail also told Sky News that the attacks are the result of bad management. He claimed another prison officer was injured on Saturday when a prisoner threw a television off a landing which hit him in the back of the head.
The latest violence occurred on the day the POA warned that prison staff are engaging in weekly "hand to hand combat" as convicts try to take control of jails.
Earlier this month, balaclava-clad inmates at Ford Prison in West Sussex went on the rampage and burned several buildings to the ground after a crackdown on contraband alcohol.
The POA has warned that more riots could happen and accused the Government of turning "a deaf ear" to the increasing problems as "inappropriate prisoners" are transferred to open jails.