More needs to be done to protect prison staff from assaults as inmates are getting away with just a couple of extra week behind bars for attack, an MP has said.
Assaults on staff have increased since 2010 but sentences handed out by courts to prisoners convicted while in jail have fallen.
Shipley MP Philip Davies urged Government to act to protect staff and punish inmates and scrap the early release of any prisoner convicted of an assault.
He said: “The numbers of assaults on prison officers has gone up but the number of extra days given as prison sentences to people who commit those offences has actually gone down since 2010 from an average of 20, which was pretty low as it was, to an average of 16.
“Surely we should be stopping the release half way through the prison sentence for anyone who is convicted in prison of assaulting a prison officer?”
He called for a debate on prison officers ahead to influence the forthcoming Prisons and Courts Bill.
Commons Leader David Lidington said the Bill contains measures that governors and prison officers will welcome.
He added: “They are designed to help prison staff run the establishment in a way that is safe for staff and for prisoners alike and to ensure good discipline, order and productive work and educational opportunities.”