Britain’s worst criminals including Grindr killer Stephen Port & Charles Bronson ‘are being guarded by rookie officers’

BRITAIN’S worst criminals including Grindr killer Stephen Port and Charles Bronson could be locked up by rookie officers

An exodus of prison staff has been blamed for potentially leaving some of the UK‘s most dangerous offenders under the watch of inexperienced officers.

Almost a third of guards have been in the job for less than three years, new figures suggest.

The proportion of rookie officers has leapt from five per cent to 27 per cent at HMP Belmarsh in south-east London, where serial killer Port was sent, the reported.

The percentage has risen from 10 per cent to 38 per cent at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes, where serial offender Bronson is being kept.

Charlie Taylor, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, last month described Woodhill as “fundamentally unsafe”.

An inspection report told how more officers were leaving than joining, as staff “voted with their feet” in response to “bullying and intimidation” by inmates becoming “commonplace”.

And there has been a jump in inexperienced guards from five per cent to 30 per cent at HMP Frankland in County Durham, where prisoners include ex-cop Wayne Couzens who murdered Sarah Everard.

The number of guards in high-security prisons with more than three years in the job has dropped from 4,148 to 2,993 since the Conservatives came into power in 2010, new figures show.

Back then they accounted for 91 per cent of the workforce but now just 69 per cent.

The figures were published by Justice Minister Damian Hinds after Labour put in a written parliamentary question.

Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “These figures paint a stark picture of the reality of a mass exodus of staff.

“The high staff turnover means a lack of experience on prison wings and new recruits struggle to find people to learn from.

“The government needs to urgently address the challenges that prison staff are facing to ensure we see an improvement in engagement and retention.”

Mr Hinds insisted the resignation rate for prison officers had dropped to 9% in the year to June.

He added: “We recognise the importance of retaining experienced staff.

“We launched a retention toolkit into prisons in 2021 which provides governors with the support and tools to tackle the main drivers of attrition in their prison.”

And he pointed to “a number of new initiatives” since April last year, including new colleague mentors and “significant investments in pay to recognise the hard work of our staff”.

A Prison Service spokesman said: “We are doing more than ever to attract and retain the best staff, including starting salaries for officers which have risen from £22,000 to £30,000 since 2019.”

Officers have been given body-worn cameras and X-ray scanners to help combat drugs being smuggled in which fuel disorder.

The spokesman added: “These measures are working and, in addition to increasing the number of officers by 4,000 since 2017, retention rates for prison staff are now improving.”

Port was given a whole life sentence in 2016 after being found guilty of murdering Anthony Walgate, 23, 22-year-old Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth, 21, and 25-year-old Jack Taylor.

The chef plied his victims with date-rape drug GHB after meeting them on gay dating app Grindr.

Armed robber Bronson, first jailed in 1974, has had seen his sentence repeatedly increased for attacking prison staff and taking them hostage.

His latest bid to be released was rejected by a parole board in March this year.

Couzens last year lost an appeal aiming to reduce the whole life sentence a judge gave him in September 2021.