"There are hotspots for violence in prison. The exercise yard, the showers. There are peak times, too. Mealtimes and association periods are particularly volatile. But first thing in the morning is not when you expect to hear an alarm bell. I certainly didn't, at 6am in my office on the residential wing of a high-security prison in late 2018. All prisoners were locked up at that time."
"When I reached the scene, I found one of my colleagues standing outside a cell with his keys in the lock, poised to open the door. The control panel next to the door showed a blinking orange light. The cell bell can be activated by prisoners inside to call for officer assistance. Normally this would be a request for toilet roll or paracetamol. But that day was different."
"Inside the cell, one man sat trembling on the top bunk. Another stood with his back to the window, arms folded, T-shirt spattered with blood. The third prisoner lay prone on the floor. He was conscious, but only just. The eerie stillness of that cell was suddenly broken by noise and urgency. The officer beside me radioed for an ambulance."
Overcrowding in UK prisons forces three men into cells designed for one, heightening the risk of violent incidents. A 6am cell alarm revealed one man trembling on the top bunk, another with a blood-spattered T-shirt, and a third lying barely conscious. Officers radioed for an ambulance while a search team photographed the scene to preserve evidence. Staff confined the suspected assailant in a dry cell to preserve evidence; he later smashed a light and used shards to attack another officer. The injured man, in his 60s serving a short burglary sentence, was hospitalized and placed in a medically induced coma after brain fluid leaked from his nose.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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