Fresh assault claims against Wormwood Scrubs staff

INMATES at Wormwood Scrubs jail have made fresh claims of assault by staff, the Prison Service confirmed yesterday. A governor at the west London jail is looking at one complaint and the police team already probing claims of brutality at the jail is investigating another, a Prison Service spokesman said.

It is understood that another complaint about an attack by staff has also been made. A source familiar with the claims said they were of "medium- scale" assaults. "We are not talking about repetitive brutality on the scale we witnessed before, these were one-off assaults."

Nine staff were suspended in March after an internal Prison Service inquiry was launched into claims that eight inmates were repeatedly assaulted by officers. The Prison Service spokesman said: "Prisons occasionally receive allegations made by prisoners about treatment by staff. All allegations are investigated by prison management or where appropriate the police."