Inmates moved to High Down after a riot held a razor blade to a prison officer’s throat, a source has claimed.

Prisoners allegedly covered up cameras before launching the attack at the prison at about 5.15pm yesterday (Thursday, December 22), according to information received by the Sutton Guardian.

The condition of the officer is unknown.

The Prison Service confirmed there had been an “isolated incident” involving “one offender” at the prison.

The source claimed ten inmates were moved to High Down from HMP Birmingham after rioters caused £2 million worth of damage to the prison as they took over four wings of the jail last week, set fire to stairwells and destroyed paper records.

Reigate and Banstead MP Crispin Blunt said he had not been made aware of the alleged disturbance at the prison.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "We do not tolerate violence against the dedicated staff who work with our offenders. When incidents like this occur we work closely with the police to push for the strongest possible punishment.

"The incident is being investigated by police and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage."

There have been at least four major disturbances at English prisons in less than two months.

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About 60 inmates seized control of part of a wing at HMP Swaleside in Kent shortly before 7pm on Thursday. The Prison Service said the riot had been suppressed by 1am.

Last week, hundreds of inmates rioted for more than 12 hours at Birmingham prison, one of the country's biggest jails. Some 240 prisoners were transferred from the prison.

From November: Drugs, lack of exercise and understaffing makes High Down 'unacceptably violent and dangerous', says government's chief prison inspector Peter Clarke

From March: Father fears overcrowding, poor hygiene, and lack of exercise and rehabilitation in HMP High Down is turning prisoner son into a "nutcase"

In November, justice secretary Liz Truss listed the following challenges facing prisons in a policy paper called Prison Safety and Reform:

  • Assaults on prison staff increased by 43 per cent in the past 12 months to June this year, while self-harm increased by over a quarter. The number of suicides increased by 13 per cent in the 12 months to September this year.
  • About 17,000 mobile phones and SIM cards were found in prisons, an increase of 7,000 since 2013. There has also been sharp rise in drones dropping contraband over the prison walls.
  • The increase of violence has been fuelled by a rise in psychoactive drugs into prisons, which the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman referred to as a ‘game changer’.

In the same report the Ms Truss said the department aimed to employ an additional 2,500 new prison officers by 2018 to help improve the security of staff members.

From November 2014: Government "got it wrong" over cuts which led to "mackerel and dumplings" prison rebellion

Prison Officers Association chairman Mike Rolfe said the relationship between prison officers and inmates had broken down across the country because of cuts to staffing levels.

"What you have is a really unhelpful mix around the prison estate of prisoner-staff relationships now, where staff numbers have been cut so that staff don't feel confident or empowered to be able to do their role. That's led to a breakdown of the relationship," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"What you need to foster a good environment is prison officers who are able to work with prisoners but then help mentor them towards education and work, because most prisoners don't want to do that instantly, so you need to have healthy relationships to start turning their lives around.

"We have completely lost that at the moment, there's a real breakdown and division between the two groups."

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