The risks facing Norfolk's prison workers have been laid bare as figures show assaults on staff working at Norfolk’s prisons are four times higher than a decade ago.
The Ministry of Justice's own data shows attacks on officers at Norwich Prison have risen from 31 in 2012 to 155 last year.
Assaults on staff at Wayland Prison have jumped from 24 a decade ago to 108 in 2021, while there were 17 attacks at the smaller HMP Bure, the second highest number since it opened in 2009.
The latest quarterly figures on deaths, self-harm and assaults in prison reveal seven of the attacks on staff at Wayland and six at Norwich were classified as serious.
The Community trade union, which represents many workers in privatised justice services, said it was “deeply troubled” by 23 officers being physically assaulted every day in prison across England and Wales.
National secretary Adrian Axtell said: “No one should live with the constant threat or fear that they might be assaulted while at work. Yet those who work in the justice, custodial and immigration sector are all too often faced with that reality.”
Prisoner Jamie Felmingham had his sentence extended by six months last September for punching two officers at HMP Norwich.
Meanwhile an officer suffered first-degree burns after an inmate at HMP Wayland threw boiling water over him and struck him with a kettle.
But Mr Axtell said the figures showed there had been a “de-facto decriminalisation” of many assaults on workers, with 64pc in a union survey saying that reporting abuse at work did not lead to any consequences.
“We are calling for immediate action on staffing levels, legal consequences and equipment to keep our members safe in their place of work,” he added.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "We will never tolerate violence against our hard working officers, which is why we're doubling the maximum sentence for those who cause them harm.
"This is on top of the millions we have already invested in tools such as PAVA to keep frontline staff safe."
The latest figures also show there were 18 serious prisoner-on-prisoner assaults at HMP Wayland, 11 at HMP Norwich and six at HMP Bure in the 12 months to December 2021.
There were also 641 reported incidents of Norwich inmates self-harming, 495 at Wayland and 165 at Bure.
Norwich prison also saw three suicides by prisoners while five inmates died of natural causes. Bure and Wayland saw no suicides but reported six and two deaths respectively.
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