Jail attacks at five-year high

Newly released statistics show that inmate attacks in Ontario jails are at a five-year high as cellblock violence surges.

Figures obtained by the Canadian Press under the Freedom of Information Act find that there were about 3,000 reported assault in prisons in 2012 and 2013. That amounts to about eight attacks a day. It’s up nearly one-third from five years earlier.

The number of times guards used physical force against inmates has almost doubled in the same period, reaching around 1,500 incidents.

The rise in violence comes alongside growing overcrowding in provincial jails.