SCALDING hot water was among the weapons used once a fortnight on average against staff at the most violent prison in Scotland.
New figures show that officers at HMP Perth were assaulted 26 times over the year 2015/16 with weapons which also included as pool balls, chairs and sharpened mop handles.
The revelation comes just weeks after it was revealed that the Tayside jail topped a list of the most violent in the country.
There has been a total of 71 ‘prisoner on staff assaults’ in the last four years, with the number jumping from 15 in 2014/15 to a whopping 26 in 2015/16.
The new figures, revealed in a freedom of information request, show that there have been five occasions in which an inmate used scalding hot water to attack a member of prison staff.
The number remained the same for the number of times a prisoner spat at a guard.
Excrement and urine was used three times in the past four years to attack staff by angry prisoners in Perth.
Items such as a pen, sharpened mop handles, pool balls, chairs and a soup bowl have all been used on single occasions in assaults.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Prison Service said: “Given the nature of their work, prison staff can work with dangerous and difficult individuals and on rare occasions assaults on staff unfortunately do occur.
“We recognise the importance of providing a safe environment for our staff and it is our policy that all assaults on staff are reported to the appropriate authorities”
Earlier this month, it was revealed that HMP Perth is the most violent in Scotland.
13 serious assaults or brawls were recorded in the last year, almost double the seven noted in the year before.
Barlinnie prison in Glasgow, the biggest in the country with a population of 1,600, which is more than double that of in Perth, recorded just six fights in 2015/16.
This summer, Perth inmates staged a stand-off in the jail, attacking staff and setting fire to a pool table.
Convicted killer Kristopher Marshall and fellow inmate Ronald Smith were sentenced to four years behind bars for the incident which is thought to have cost taxpayers £40,000.
