Training Exercise Led to Prison Officer's Retirement

A former prison officer who was compelled to retire as a result of injuries he sustained during a training exercise at work has been awarded £185,000 in compensation.

Robert Warren had worked as a prison officer for 30 years when the accident happened. He was employed at HM Prison Wealstun in West Yorkshire and was taking part in mandatory control and restraint training that involved a role play exercise. Mr Warren took the part of a violent prisoner being restrained by three prison officer colleagues. They had him pinned against a wall and should then have followed the trainer's instruction to lower him to the ground, face downwards, in a controlled manner. Instead, one of his colleagues knocked his legs from under him, causing him to crash to the ground and the other participants to fall on top of him.

Mr Warren suffered nerve damage to his left shoulder and underwent extensive medical treatment and physiotherapy. This was only partially successful and he has been left with permanent pain and numbness in his shoulder and upper arm that have made it impossible for him to resume work. His injuries have a significant impact on his everyday life and could have been avoided had the training exercise been properly supervised and controlled.

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