The amount of recorded assaults on staff and other prisoners at the closest jails to Swindon has increased in the last five years.
The latest government figures show how often violence is reported at HMP Erlestoke in Devizes and at the larger HMP Bullingdon in Oxfordshire, which is where many convicted criminals from Swindon and Wiltshire are sent.
In 2024, Erlestoke had a reported inmate population of 510 in 2024 while Bullingdon had 1,072 inmates.
At Erlestoke, the amount of recorded prisoner-on-prisoner violence has varied from 71 incidents in 2020, then peaking at 105 assaults in 2023 before reducing to 95 throughout 2024, and the first three months of the year saw 23 attacks.
Bullingdon's prisoner-on-prisoner violence has totalled between 270 and 322 incidents annually between 2020 and 2023, but last year saw a sharp rise to 407 incidents, with 110 more between January and March 2025.
Staff often become the target of violence in these jails. In HMP Erlestoke, the amount of assaults on staff fell from 62 in 2020 to 37 in 2023 before rising to 43 last year.
HMP Bullingdon saw a similar gradual drop in its figures - from 150 in 2020 to 112 in 2023 - followed by a rise to 154 in 2024.
In June 2025, government research highlighted a link between overcrowded conditions and increased violence in prisons, as offenders are nearly twenty per cent more likely to be involved in assaults in overpopulated jails.
Prisoner-on-prisoner assaults at HMP Erlestoke and Bullingdon 2020 to Q1 2025. (Image: Ministry of Justice)
Patrick Mallon, a solicitor at legal firm JF Law, said: "The alarming year-on-year rise in assaults in UK prisons is a stark reflection of a system under immense strain.
"With prison populations growing and a significant number of prisons now officially overcrowded, the Ministry of Justice is facing a growing crisis as this limited space creates an unstable environment where violence becomes increasingly common."
Assaults on staff at HMP Erlestoke and Bullingdon 2020 to Q1 2025. (Image: Ministry of Justice)
The government announced a £40 million investment in new security measures aimed at reducing violence behind bars, including window replacements, CCTV and control room upgrades, vehicle gates, biometrics and floodlighting.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "These statistics once again lay bare the extent of the crisis facing our prisons - with levels of violence, assaults on staff and self-harm far too high.
"The Government has made it clear it will do whatever we can to protect our hardworking staff, which is why we are trialling tasers in prisons and mandated protective body armour for prison officers working with the most dangerous offenders.
"But it is clear fundamental change is needed, which is why we're also reforming our jails so they create better citizens, not better criminals."