Prison guard stabbed in the stomach

A male prison guard was stabbed in the stomach on Wednesday with a pencil – this is the second assault on prison guards at the Copenhagen prison Vestre Fængsel in a few days.

The assault on Wednesday occurred during a walk in the yard. The guard was subsequently taken to the emergency room.

This was the second assault in a few days. Over the weekend, another male prison guard was assaulted when he was hit in the head with an iron rod, requiring stitches at the emergency room afterwards.

The assault took place at the prison’s hospital, where the inmate had become agitated and threw water at a nurse. The guard tried to calm him down but was instead assaulted.

Bo Yde Sørensen, the president of the Prison Officers’ Union (Fængselsforbundet), is concerned about the situation in Vestre Prison, which is under pressure due to overcrowding. The prison has had an average occupancy rate of 102 percent in the first half of the year.

“It is clear that everyone can feel that Vestre Prison is overcrowded. It affects the inmates that the guards lack the opportunity to influence them in a positive direction. We don’t have time for relationship building and cultural understanding – the core of our work. And it increases the risk of conflicts,” says Bo Yde Sørensen.