“I saw people die in prison, but my bosses didn’t support me”

A former prison guard says he was offered no support by his superiors despite witnessing a murder and a suicide and being attacked by inmates five times.

Instead, he felt pressured to forego vacation despite numerous traumatic events because staffing levels were so low.

The 21-year-old, who joined the prison service after leaving school at 18 and worked in prisons across the West Midlands, said: “After three years I had seen so much – the extremes of death, both self-inflicted and caused by others. You don't have time to process it.”

The Ministry of Justice said it had inherited a prison service “in crisis” from the previous government and that it would now “get the system under control”.

The former officer, who wished to remain anonymous, said a career in prison service appealed to him because of the self-discipline and integrity the profession requires.

“I knew I could be attacked by the prisoners and that I could see horrible things, but I expected to have support,” he said.

Shortly after he began his service, he witnessed someone die from a self-inflicted wound and another inmate being murdered on the same day.

After each serious incident, there should have been a debriefing with management and a supportive check-in, but this never happened.

“Nobody asked if I was okay,” he said.

“It is incompetent not to think about the health and safety of officers.

“There are so many management failures that put staff and prisoners at risk, and it is very difficult for the Department of Justice to investigate.”

He claimed that management had violated Justice Department guidelines that require officers to take time off if they are assaulted multiple times within a week.

“The Justice Department told me to take some time off, but then my manager made a comment that stuck with me,” he said.

“He told me, 'If you have incidents like this and you can't handle it, you shouldn't do the job.

“I was young and had just started a career I loved and I couldn't afford to give it up. So I didn't take any time to process what had happened to me.

“At some point I couldn’t take it anymore.”

After three years in prisons such as HMP Birmingham and Long Lartin in Worcestershire, he quit.

He said he wanted to tell his story because “officials who question the integrity of management must be dismissed from service or transferred to another prison.”

He also called on the Ministry of Justice to hire more staff as the current concentrations are not safe.

“Fourteen years ago, there would have been at least ten to 15 officers in one housing unit to look after 150 prisoners,” he said.

“During my career, I have managed a unit with more prisoners than ever before, along with only one other staff member.”

At the beginning of the month 2,000 prisoners were released early to alleviate the prison crisiswho serve 40% instead of 50% of their sentence.

The former officer was skeptical that this would make a difference, as he had concerns about rehabilitation and the likelihood of reoffending.

He also expressed concerns about the release of perpetrators of domestic violence in particular.

“We see many of them coming back,” he said.

“I think it's inevitable that someone will die.”

According to the Prison and Probation Service, there has been an increase in 2,268 employees across the entire service compared to June last year.

Dominque Moran, professor of prison geography at the University of Birmingham, expressed concern about young and inexperienced staff entering the service and potentially replacing experienced officers.

“Many inmates have been in prison several times – they are very familiar with how the system works,” she said.

“They often know the prison better than many new employees.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said that while the loss of experienced staff had left the service with a relatively inexperienced workforce, the training provided to staff had been continually improved.

“The new government has inherited a prison system that is in crisis – which puts considerable pressure on the entire justice system,” they said.

“We will get the situation under control so we can lock up the most dangerous offenders, protect the public and make our prisons safer for hard-working staff.”