Express & Star comment: Violence marks another low point for prisons

Assaults on staff have quadrupled over the last five years inside HMP Oakwood, HMP Featherstone and Brinsford YOI, while there were almost 1,000 reports of violence between inmates in 2017.

It paints an extremely bleak picture.

Out on the streets the criminals are running riot, with drug dealing, violence, burglaries and sexual offences all on a seemingly unstoppable upwards curve.

Then on the few occasions when the courts can be bothered to send criminals to jail, they are thrust into institutions where drug taking is rife and violence is as much a part of the daily grind as it is on the outside.

What an absolutely scandalous state of affairs this is. Who would be a prison officer these days? Understaffed and over-worked, these men and women are entering an environment where there is a strong chance they could be subjected to violence on a daily basis.

Somewhere along the line, the people in charge of our prisons have forgotten one of the key elements of justice.

In certain ‘right on’ circles, there is much talk of the benefits of restorative justice, and of encouraging staff to work with prisoners to build mutual respect.

But what about punishment? There is now a widely held view such a thing does not exist behind bars.

Thanks largely to a succession of governments adopting a soft approach to law and order, prison is now seen by many criminals as an easy ride.

The lawmakers may think they are doing the right thing with their politically correct initiatives, but the law breakers are simply laughing at them.

Pressure is mounting on Theresa May’s Tory administration to get a grip on law and order, and rightly so.

At the very least, jails must be properly staffed. And anyone involved in violence behind bars must receive a suitable term added to their sentence.

Politicians regularly bemoan the fact that our prisons are overcrowded. Well here’s a solution. Build more of them – and make sure they are properly run.