Prison official in Catalonia suffers brutal assault by a visitor

An official at the Brians 2 Penitentiary Center suffered a brutal assault by a visitor this Sunday. According to a report by the Catalan Prison Union (SICAP-FEPOL), the woman punched, bit, scratched, and ripped out clumps of hair from the worker, whom she also threatened to death. Furthermore, another visitor—an 86-year-old relative of an inmate—was injured during the incident while trying to separate the victim from her attacker.

According to the incident report, the event took place around 1:20 p.m. when the worker asked a visitor to wait a moment before using the elevator, with the sole purpose of giving priority to elderly people with reduced mobility. It was then that the woman violently let go of the two-year-old child accompanying her and lunged at the professional from behind. The union recounts that she struck her in the face, scratched her face, eye, and chest, ripped out chunks of hair, and bit her on the forearm and face.

Hearing the victim's screams, another officer immediately triggered a security code and rushed to her aid, although the intervention of several professionals was necessary due to the attacker's violence and lack of control. Finally, using "the minimum force essential to immobilize her," according to the union, the assault was brought to an end, while the visitor continued to spit at and insult the officers. The octogenarian who tried to help during the intervention was bitten on the hand and had to be treated by medical services, until Mossos d'Esquadra officers finally took charge of the aggressor.

The union asserts that the assault is not limited to an "isolated incident," stating that it is proof "of the vulnerability in which prison professionals work and the lack of an effective policy for prevention, protection, and response to assaults." "Violence is no longer confined to residential modules; it also reaches communication areas, access points, and facilities open to families and visitors. Any professional action, even an instruction as basic as respecting elevator turn-taking, can end in a brutal assault," the association states.

Likewise, the collective demands an immediate investigation into the events and the existing security conditions in the area, as well as maximum protection for the assaulted official and that the Administration pursue all possible legal actions against the person responsible for the attack.