Bedford Prison enters special measures

The Category B prison, which is based in Bedford town centre, has been put into special measures by the Prisons and Probation Service.

This news comes following a troubled period for the prison. Earlier this month the Times & Citizen reported that there were 230 assaults recorded at HMP Bedford in 2017, including 85 on prison staff and 22 assaults were defined as serious, a category which includes sexual assaults and those where victims required hospital in-patient treatment.

Also this month it was revealed that a prison officer at Bedford underwent emergency surgery after an inmate punched him and stamped on his head.