'Killing in prison is not difficult' - the rise in cold-blooded attacks behind bars

"If you want to kill someone in prison, it's not difficult," a prisoner messages me from his cell.

He's been convicted of serious violence and is serving a lengthy sentence inside one of England's largest Victorian prisons.

"People in here are innovative - they have time to think about how to kill and damage," he says in a stream of messages to me. "You'd be surprised what they can do with razor blades and a toothbrush. The look of it [the weapon] is enough for you to panic."

Possessing or using a mobile phone in prison is a criminal offence in the UK, but like many inmates, this prisoner has smuggled one in.

The man, who is adamant he's remorseful and wants a fresh start once back on the outside, messages after news of the death of Ian Huntley rippled through Britain's prisons - and the country.

Huntley, the former school caretaker who murdered 10-year-old girls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002, died last month after sustaining serious head injuries following an attack at HMP Frankland in County Durham. A prison inmate has been charged with murder and is next due to appear in court on 3 June.

It was the latest deadly prison attack, coming not long after convicted child sex offender and former LostProphets singer Ian Watkins died following an attack in HMP Wakefield, West Yorkshire, in October 2025. He was serving a 29-year sentence for offences including the attempted rape of a baby.

A man has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Watkins and is due to stand trial.

According to Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures, there were 3,544 serious assaults in prisons in England and Wales in the 12 months to September 2025 - up 8% from the year before.

In the year ending December 2025, seven prisoners were murdered - and six the year before.

Prisoner-on-prisoner assaults are at their highest level since 2020, but were higher before the Covid pandemic.

Another inmate of a prison in England, messaging me illegally from inside, explains how prison killings can be part of a complex web of hierarchies among prisoners and settling scores. Some inmates are being directed to commit acts of violence against others, sometimes for status or to get drugs.

"There are crims who have targets on their back - like anyone who did things to children - they're the worst.

"Being in here can make you worse and angry and you might want to take that anger out on someone. And then you're told to do it. You have to ask whether things will ever change, will the fear ever stop?

"The monster Huntley is dead, but now what?"

His comments suggest little has changed since my two-day BBC visit to HMP Pentonville in London in 2024.

Through the constant piercing sound of alarms and banging of cell doors, offenders at the men's prison told how makeshift weapons were used to carry out violent acts to win approval from influential gang leaders. By following instructions to harm other inmates, they could gain protection from influential prisoners who are feared for their power.

It raises the question of whether a culture of prisoners intimidating and bribing vulnerable inmates into inflicting pain on others behind bars has become normalised, making it hard to change.

What complicates matters is some prisoners feel they've got nothing to lose by committing another serious offence if they are already serving a lengthy sentence.

"Prisoners on life sentences know they are unlikely to be released for a significant period, indeed they often have very little to come out to," criminal barrister Kama Melly KC explains. "These are men who have already demonstrated their violent tendencies.

"Even a further life sentence and significant restrictions on life in prison will not prevent such murders in prisons taking place."

As of December 2025, the number of unreleased life sentence prisoners in England and Wales was 7,570 - the highest level in decades apart from the years 2011-2012.

If an inmate kills or seriously hurts someone in prison they may be put under more restrictions such as being placed in a close supervision centre - segregated from other inmates.

Even then, the incentive to behave for some lifers is next to nil. Tom Wheatley, president of the Prison Governors' Association, recalls a conversation with a prisoner who boasted that if he were to kill Wheatley there was "nothing we could do to him".

"He was already in a close supervision centre," Wheatley adds, "in isolation from other prisoners, and was serving a whole life term."

That lack of caring for consequences, along with the battle for kudos among inmates, means those committing prison murders may be choosing to ignore the hypocrisy that they - not just their targets - are in prison for heinous crimes, too.

Prison officers are on the front line of trying to prevent such attacks - but they are also coming under attack.

Last year, the number of assaults on staff in adult prisons in England and Wales per year reached its highest level in a decade, according to MoJ data.

Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers' Association, argues the sentence in prison is the punishment - while violence and murder are not.

"Prison officer numbers and security unfortunately have been depleted over the years due to cutbacks, and violence is totally out of control," he says. "Prisoners who are serving these sentences do so for a reason, and in the absence of the death penalty - which is an entirely different argument - it demonstrates how dangerous our prisons have become."

Prison officer numbers were down by almost 1,000 at the end of last year, compared with the year before. The government admits there are ongoing challenges, including recruitment and retention.

But ministers say they have boosted annual pay to £37,000, with resignations at their lowest in four years.

Another underlying issue is the lack of capacity in prisons. In the autumn of 2024, prisons in England were fewer than 100 spaces away from reaching full capacity.

A government report published last year identified a direct link between capacity and prison violence - it found that over a one-year period, crowded environments increased the likelihood of an offender being involved in a violent incident by 19%.

And when violent attacks do occur, the backlog of 80,000 cases waiting to be heard in crown courts in England and Wales means it can take many months for an inmate who has harmed another to be convicted.

Law enforcement agencies can seek to prioritise prison murders for pressing charges, though, particularly if a case has had a strong public reaction.

In response to this article, an MoJ spokesperson told the BBC: "To protect the public prisons must always be a place of control and punishment which is why this government took immediate action to reverse years of chaos and reduce the amount of violence behind bars."

Ultimately, these attacks are not necessarily what those at the centre of convicts' crimes - the victims - want.

Nour Norris lost her sister Khaola and her niece Raneem when Janbaz Tarin, Raneem's ex-partner, fatally stabbed the two women in 2018.

She stresses that Tarin should see through his sentence - life with a minimum term of 32 years - for murder.

"Someone killed in prison is escaping their sentence. They should suffer with their own thoughts about what they did," Norris says.

"The prison has a duty of care to make sure they serve that sentence and are punished properly according to the law - or it sends out a really bad message that the justice system is not in control."