Threatened in work. Terrified

[Helpquickly]

I work in a prison. Im not an officer but I have intermittent contact with prisoners.

I’ve been working with one man in particular who has told other staff he intends to stab me in the heart. He’s done things like this before (not to staff but in community) and that he “hates” me.

I wasn’t informed of any of this until I an email trial about his “behaviour” over the weekend.

im due to go in tomorrow but im feeling really on edge. Aibu to say I’m not going in?

YANBU

WTAF

Bloody hell YANBU, how terrifying

You need to call your manager and explicitly ask about the safety measures that will be put in place to stop him attacking you. Follow up the call with an email. Copy HR. Are you in a union?

Your employer has a responsibility to keep you safe at work, ask them what are they doing to prevent a credible threat they have been warned about.

Until measures are put in place to ensure this inmate cant reach you then I wouldnt go in. Risk management should be the first thing looked at.

Your employer has a duty to keep the staff safe. Do you have a union rep?

Thanks. I thought I was overreacting. Violence happens all the time, but it was the fact he discussed it with staff over the weekend and I wasn’t told/he didn’t say it to my face if that makes sense. I’m in a union.

It’s quite rare for prisoners to act on threats to prison staff, but your employers have a duty of care to you and should be reducing the opportunity for contact.

I’d be considering how long he has left on his sentence, and does he have form for assaulting staff?

You’re not being unreasonable to be apprehensive.

Your union should be able to help you with this.

Sections 44 and 100 of the Employment Rights Act, for starters. Look it up.

I’d write to the governor and say you can’t possibly come in until this situation is resolved and your anxiety levels are thru the roof (see attached sick note for 4 weeks) - hopefully they will transfer him!

Go sick stress.

Wait until reassessment of risk. Life is too precious

Get onto the union asap - you should not be put in danger, and there has been a clear threat. You also should have been told about that threat directly, not find out it as a 'side issue' in an email. Hopefully the union will be proactive.

phone in sick and contact your union.
do not go in until you feel safe
YANBU

They won’t transfer him over that! But yes write to governer, and line manager,inform TU and go off sick till resolved.

Is there a way you can ask to not have contact with him. Also you're not over reacting

What's his beef? If you're not wing staff then you can make sure he's not around you. If you are on his wing or healthcare etc and contact is unavoidable then someone else will have to deal with him.

In any event you must talk to your manager about this. It's par for the course in the job sometimes, (I'm in a similar setting) and we put things in place. Don't go sick, it won't help

It's a clear threat to you, and until you've heard what the risk assessment is, absolutely I wouldn't (having phoned the union for advice first). I'm sorry this has happened to you, must be terrifying.

Please inform his custody probation officer or POM in OMU, his index offence will determine which one he has. While he is in prison you are protected. You do not need to have any contact with him the governor and wing staff should put the safety measures in place to ensure you no longer cross paths. His OAYs (risk assessment) should be updated to reflect his increase risk to staff and robust risk management will be put in place. Threats in prison can be managed more effectively than in the community on licence so try not to worry (easier said than done) I know.

You’re not overreacting at all OP. It’s understandable if you don’t go in while you try and figure out the best way forward with your workplace. What are they seeking to put in place for your safety?

Print the email or forward a copy of it to your personal email. I say that because once upon a time I raised something with HR. Within days I was fired and locked out of my accounts but thankfully I had kept a paper trail of various things having forwarded some key work emails to my Gmail. This allowed me to challenge them legally.

Speak to your line manager. You cant just not turn up for work.

There should have been an Intelligence Report to Security by whoever heard him make the threat. Speak to the Head of Security to find out what action is being taken. They will consider his criminal history and whether this is offence-paralleling behaviour. At the least you should ask for arrangements to be put in place so you are safe psychologically and physically.
Appropriate actions will vary according to his past behaviours and risk factors- and will range from a conversation with his Offender Manager via Segregation to transferring him out if the risk is deemed high. There should also be behavioural sanctions because making threats should not be consequence-free. Arguably the best course of action would be a mediated conversation to deal with whatever perceived grievance he has against you. This humanises you and makes it harder to hate you or intend you harm, and it would potentially mean you aren’t always looking over your shoulder in future because of an unresolved issue. But I know it’s a big ask when you’ve been threatened.
I don’t say this to invalidate your feelings or minimise his culpability but to offer some reassurance: Prisoners very rarely follow through in threats like this. But it’s not impossible and for that reason the prison must take some action to safeguard you.
I am writing as a former High Security prison Governor.

@Helpquickly

Which union are you a member of, OP?

You need to submit an IR to security
you need to not go on any wing he is on
lock down social media

I have been in a similar situation at work in my job giving pro bono legal advice. I had a client who was not happy with the situation he found himself in and was angry that he didn’t have the rights he thought he should have!he frequently used to come into the office threatening to kill me and I knew he had a violent temper because he had been arrested a few times for getting into fights.
as others have said your employers have a duty to your health and well-being, and you should ask them what steps they are taking in furtherances of that goal