Justice secretary Chris Grayling visited a Sheppey prison today in the wake of a series of disturbances.

The top Tory went to HMP Standford Hill where he had discussions with representatives of the Prison Officers’ Association from all three of the Island’s jails.

It follows an incident in which a prison officer was reportedly slashed across the scalp with a blade at HMP Swaleside on October 3.

At the same location, a prisoner was taken to hospital with what were thought to be knife wounds five days later and firefighters were called to a blaze in a cell there on SaturdayOctober 11.

Mr Grayling, who was asked to visit by MP Gordon Henderson, said: “I think it’s really important that we provide proper protection to prison officers.

“We have been working with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to ensure that assaults on prison officers are dealt with and the prosecution follows a longer sentence if necessary" - Gordon Henderson MP

“Any assault on a prison officer is completely unacceptable and ought to be dealt with the full force of the law.

“We have been working with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to ensure that assaults on prison officers are dealt with and the prosecution follows a longer sentence if necessary.

“We have started to make progress on that and we’ve seen some recent cases brought to court.

“My view is that we should have a zero tolerance of this and we will be working with both the police and the CPS to make sure the situation improves.

“With regards to weapons we’re also now exploring legislating to make weapons in prisons a clear offence.

“There are issues around whether there is a loophole in the law that means prisoners can avoid prosecution for having a weapon in a prison.

“That’s not acceptable and it’s something we’re moving to address.”

Mr Grayling denied snubbing Swaleside and Elmley, category B and A respectively, and said the purpose of his visit to category D Stanford Hill was to see how reforms to “tighten up” the open jail system were being carried out to provide greater protection for the public following recent issues.

A number of inmates have absconded from the Eastchurch site in recent months, the most high profile being Michael “Skullcracker” Wheatley who was apprehended after raiding a building society in Sunbury-on-Thames.

Recent reports from the Independent Monitoring Board and HM Inspectorate of Prisons have highlighted a lack of staff as causing problems in all areas of the service.

Mr Grayling accepted there were staff shortages and said there has been an increase in the prison population in the last year, a lot of which is down to an increase in historic and current cases of sex offenders in the wake of the Jimmy Savile affair.

He said: “We’ve got something like 700 more sex offenders in prison this year than last year.

“So at a time when we’ve had staff shortages, we’ve also had an unexpected increase in population that’s why we’re in the middle of a big recruitment drive.

“We have got some staff on detached duty being relocated temporarily from other parts of the country to cover gaps in the South East and we’re also assembling a prison reserve, a bank of other staff who can come and work part time as well as retired prison officers willing to do some extra work.

“I know it’s been difficult, I know there have been challenges in Sheppey and the South East. “We are working very hard to address those quickly.”

Prison Officers’ Association rep for London and the South East, Mike Rolfe said the service is struggling to recruit new staff because the money they are being offered is comparable to less dangerous jobs in retail.

Mr Grayling responded to the concerns saying unions will always argue for more money and there were “challenges” in the region with pay.

He said: “It’s not easy but I’m confident we will fill the gaps.”

Meanwhile, shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan (Lab) is scheduled to visit one of Sheppey’s jails next Thursday and meet with prison officers at The Shurland Hotel in Eastchurch.