A prison officer had his throat cut by an inmate at HMP Nottingham, the Ministry of Justice has said.<\/p>\n
Union officials said it was an “unprovoked attack” by a prisoner with a razor blade.<\/p>\n
The officer, who was assaulted at about 10:00 BST, needed 17 stitches. He has since been discharged from hospital.<\/p>\n
Michael McKenna, 25, has been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent, wounding with intent and a racially aggravated public order offence.<\/p>\n
The prison’s governor said his thoughts were with the officer, his family and “the team dealing with the fallout.”<\/p>\n
Prison Officers’ Association national chairman Mark Fairhurst said of the attacker: “Apparently as soon as his door was unlocked this morning, he attacked the first officer he saw with a razor blade.<\/p>\n
“He has cut his neck. The officer has gone to hospital and received 17 stitches.<\/p>\n
“At the hospital, staff said he’s lucky to be alive as it was very close to the main artery on his neck.”<\/p>\n
Mr Fairhurst added the officer was a new member of staff, still on his probationary period.<\/p>\n
Last year the government was ordered to make immediate improvements at the jail\u00a0after a report warned it was in a “dangerous state”<\/a>.<\/p>\n The prison needed to do “much more” to tackle the problem of drugs which was “inextricably linked” to violence, chief inspector of prisons Peter Clarke said in his report.<\/p>\n HMP Nottingham is a category B male prison which expanded in 2010 to hold 1,060 prisoners.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"