PRISON officers were equipped with Tasers as part of a government trial welcomed by the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) today.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said that she is “determined to keep prison staff safe” as the stun-guns were handed to specialist officers from the Operational Response and Resilience Unit based in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, and Doncaster, South Yorkshire.

A spokesperson for the POA said: “The POA will always support any initiative that will help protect our members.

“However, as welcome as this initiative is, we need to address the reasons why prison officers need Tasers in the first place.

“Violence in our prisons is out of control and apathetic prison managers would rather put the prison regime before the safety of their staff.

“We urgently need action to address overcrowding, understaffing, drugs and the other root causes of prison violence.”

Rates of assaults on prison staff reached record levels last year, rising by 13 per cent in the 12 months up to December 2024, according to government data.

In April this year, Manchester Arena plotter Hashem Abedi targeted prison staff at HMP Frankland with boiling oil and home-made weapons in a planned ambush, injuring four prison officers.

Southport killer Axel Rudakubana also allegedly attacked a prison officer at HMP Belmarsh in May by pouring boiling water over them.

Union leaders called for officers to be given stab vests and protective equipment.

In June, Ms Mahmood announced officers would be told to wear body armour at close supervision centres, separation centres and segregation units in the highest categories of prisons in England and Wales.