Research and Statistics On Prisoner Assaults In The UK

Violence in UK prisons has reached record levels, with both prisoner assaults and assaults on staff rising due to overcrowding and strains on the prison system.

In June 2025, government research highlighted a worrying link between overcrowded conditions and increased violence in prisons, as offenders are nearly twenty per cent more likely to be involved in assaults in overpopulated jails.

Consequently, the government announced a £40 million investment in new security measures aimed at reducing violence behind bars.

As reported in the BBC, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “This government inherited a prison system in crisis, overcrowded and rife with violence, and we are fixing this by delivering the fastest prison-building programme in more than a century.”

To gain a full understanding of the scope of the issue, Legal Expert set out to uncover the true statistics behind prison assaults.

How Legal Expert Can Help

Here at Legal Expert, we can help anyone who has suffered a personal injury through no fault of their own. If you have been assaulted and suffered harm as an inmate or prison staff member, get in touch today for free advice.

How We Conducted Our Research

We sent out Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) asking for the number of prisoner-on-prisoner assaults and assaults on staff in the last three years, broken down by UK prison and by year.

Results: Statistics On Prison Assaults

The prison population has increased annually for the last thirty years, rising from 43,000 in 1994 to over 88,000 in 2024.

Ministry of Justice statistics show that, in the past year, there were 10,568 assaults on prison staff and 20,570 prisoner-on-prisoner assaults – 7% and 9% increases on the previous year, respectively.

Resulting figures collated by the Institute for Government found that, in crowded accommodation, for each 10 additional prisoners per 1,000 prisoners, there was around 1 more prisoner-on-prisoner assault and around 1.5 more staff assaults.