14 staff attacked in Feltham young offenders' institute riot
Christmas riot at Feltham young offenders’ institute leaves a prison officer ‘with a broken back’ and 13 other staff injured by youths with sharpened plastic knives
- Anonymous source told the MailOnline staff were mobbed by the wild boys
- Wielding sharpened plastic knives and implements, they sliced an officer’s ear
- MOJ said ‘no serious injuries’ and that situation was under control quickly
Prison officers were taken to hospital after violence broke out at a young offender institute yesterday.
Around 14 staff at Feltham in west London were treated after the disturbance, which occurred at lunchtime on Friday.
One officer has a ‘suspected broken back’ after the gang set on a response team of officers with ‘sharpened plastic knives’, according to a member of staff who chose to remain anonymous.
Another staff member was stabbed in the ear and ‘had to be sent to a specialist unit because it was so bad’, the source told MailOnline.
However, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said there were no serious injuries, and the matter was brought under control ‘within 25 minutes’.
Pictured: Undated file photo of the front entrance of the Feltham Young Offenders’ Institute in Feltham, West London
A MoJ spokesman added today that all staff admitted to hospital yesterday were discharged last night.
It is not clear how many youngsters were involved.
A Prison Service spokesman said: ‘An incident at Feltham Young Offender Institute was quickly resolved by our brave and diligent prison officers.
‘We will never tolerate violence against our staff and will punish those involved.’
The prison employee said activities had now been cancelled for two weeks as a means of punishing the young men.
‘This is why it’s all happening, because they’re shutting down their activities,’ the source said.
Feltham is home to around 100 boys and young men aged between 15 and 21.
An officer (not involved in the riot) inspects a cell at Feltham YOI in west London in this 2002 file photo
An inspection report published in June identified soaring levels of violence and self-harm, high use of staff force, poor care and long periods of lock-up in cells in Feltham A, which holds offenders aged 15-18.
It prompted the Government to halt placements at the unit.
The MoJ said there had been a sustained reduction in levels of assaults on staff, self-harm and use of force between the start of May and the end of August, but there are no plans to return the establishment to full capacity.
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