Prisoners in England and Wales see 8% rise in serious assaults and seven murders

8 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Apr 24

Ministry of Justice data show 3,544 serious assaults in the year to September 2025, with seven inmates murdered in 2025, amid nearly 1,000 fewer prison officers and overcrowded facilities.
High-profile deaths, including Ian Huntley and Ian Watkins, highlight escalating violence, with attacks driven by inmate hierarchies, drug disputes, and lifers with little to lose.
Prison officer assaults are at a decade high, and court backlogs delay justice. Officials cite recruitment and retention challenges, while victims' families stress the need for prisons to ensure sentences are served.

With notorious killers murdered behind bars, is any inmate in England and Wales actually safe?

Do overcrowded and violent UK prisons now violate basic human rights law?

As 1,000 officers quit, are UK prisons simply descending into anarchy?

Why is violence in women's prisons surging 83% higher than in men's?

Will new sentencing laws ease prison chaos or just create a new crisis on the outside?

What is the true cost to society of allowing prisons to become factories for violence?