Fewer assaults on staff were recorded at Channings Wood prison in the year to June, new figures show.

Meanwhile the number of prisoner assaults on staff in prisons across England and Wales reached a record high, and the number of people dying in prison custody rose by nearly a third.

Charity the Howard League for Penal Reform warned prisons remain "mired in distress and misery", and called on the Government go further than the new Sentencing Bill currently in review in Parliament "to turn this failing system around".

New statistics published by the Ministry of Justice show 17 assaults on staff were recorded at Channings Wood prison in Teignbridge in the 12 months to June.

It was down from 20 the previous year.

Meanwhile prisons across England and Wales logged a record 10,477 assaults on staff in the year to June, up 2% on the year before.

It means there were around 121 assaults on staff per 1,000 prisoners on average, an increase from 118 in the year to June 2024.

The figures also show 21,071 prisoner-on-prisoner assaults were recorded in the two nations in the 12 months to June, including 58 at Channings Wood prison.

Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said the statistics "spell out the everyday failure presided over by the Government".

He added: "Prisons remain unsafe and mired in distress and misery.

"This matters to all of us as exposing people to violence and despair is no way to prepare individuals for a crime-free life on release.

"The Sentencing Bill is now before Parliament and aims to reduce pressure on our overcrowded prisons. That is a welcome first step, but far more must be done to turn this failing system around."

Fresh legislation aimed at ending the prison capacity crisis in the long term was introduced in Parliament by the then-justice secretary Shabana Mahmood in September.

She said last year the criminal justice system was "on the verge of collapse" and vowed the legislation will ensure prisons "never run out of space again".

The Sentencing Bill is currently in Parliament for review and would introduce changes to the sentencing of lower-level offences, release provisions for some determinate sentenced prisoners and restrictions available for supervision post-prison.

The MoJ statistics further show the number of people dying in prisons in England and Wales reached its highest total for a 12-month period in the year to September.

There were 411 deaths recorded in these 12 months, up 30% from 317 in the previous year.

This included seven deaths in Channings Wood prison, while there were none the year before.

Of the deaths taking place across the two nations, 96 were self-inflicted, six were logged as homicides and 221 were recorded as natural causes.

Lord Timpson, minister for prisons, probation and reducing reoffending, said: "These figures are a stark reminder of the crisis we inherited in our prisons – with violence, assaults on staff and self-harm all at unacceptable levels.

"We’re taking decisive action to end this chaos, building 14,000 prison places and reforming our jails so they create better citizens, not better criminals.

"We’re also rolling out protective body armour to thousands of frontline officers and issuing Tasers so staff have the tools they need to improve safety."