prison

European judges will rule on whether the rights of 1,015 serving prisoners in the UK were breached when they were prevented from voting in elections.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is due to announce its judgment on prisoner voting rights today.

Police are hunting a convicted burglar who has absconded from HMP Leyhill - the third inmate to go on the run from the prison inside a week.

Avon and Somerset Police said Michael Dare - described as a risk to the public - was last seen at the prison in South Gloucestershire at around 5pm on Friday.

The 29-year-old, who is serving a 20-month sentence for a burglary committed in 2010, has links to Suffolk but is believed to be in Birmingham.

He is described as white, 5ft 11ins, of heavy build, with an angular face and receding brown hair.

A Prison Service spokesman said it had "tightened the eligibility for open prisons following a comprehensive review".

A prison officer has been taken to hospital with facial injuries after he was stabbed by an inmate, the Prison Service has confirmed.

The Prison Service also said a small fire had broken out amid the 'incident at height' at Swaleside Prison on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.

Two prisoners were involved, officials said, and one remains on netting on a prison ward after it was scaled by the inmates.

The problem of sexual violence behind bars is much more widely recognised in the US than the UK, campaigners have said, after an independent commission discovered the rate of sex crimes in prisons in England and Wales is broadly similar to the US. Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said:

• Read: Independent commission calls to tackle prison rape

Hundreds of prisoners may have been sexually abused behind bars, campaigners have said, prompting calls for more to be done to tackle prison rape.

An independent commission on sex in prison, set up by charity the Howard League for Penal Reform, discovered the rate of sex crimes in prisons in England and Wales is broadly similar to the United States.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) data shows that 1% of prisoners report being sexually abused in prison, the Howard League said, meaning between 850 to 1,650 prisoners could be victims of sexual assault while inside.

The director of the Prison Reform Trust has called a south east London Young Offenders institution "grossly under-staffed, cash-strapped, overcrowded warehouse", after inspectors warned that there were signs of increasing violence at Isis due to its high population of gang members. Juliet Lyon said:

The Governor and his staff have done some excellent work with the police to challenge gang affiliation in prisons, the chief executive of the National Offender Management Service said, after inspectors warned over high levels of violence. Michael Spurr added:

The Justice Secretary has denied UK prisons are in crisis, despite a rise in assaults by prisoners in England and Wales.

Chris Grayling's comments come as the latest surprise inspection of a facility in London found high levels of violence at the Isis prison with a high population of gang members.

Figures released last month by the Ministry of Justice showed a 6% rise in assaults in prisons in the year ending March 2014, up to 15,033 from 14,083 in the previous 12-month period.

Mr Grayling told the BBC: "We're meeting those challenges, we're recruiting more staff. I am absolutely clear there is not a crisis in our prisons".He added that prison violence "is at a lower level today than it was five years ago".

Inspectors have raised fears over high levels of violence at a prison with a high population of gang members, inspectors have warned.

In 2013, there were 254 fights and assaults at Isis prison, which holds young men aged 18 to 30, with 120 in the previous six months, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) said.

Many incidents were serious and some involved gangs at the prison in south-east London, HMIP said, with a higher proportion than usual involving weapons.

There were many planned assaults involving a number of inmates against a single prisoner, and some incidents were known to be gang related, inspectors added.

The Parole Board has said it may have to deal with three times as many hearings next year, following a court ruling on fairness for prisoners.

Following a ruling by the Supreme Court in October prisoners are entitled to oral hearings even if they are unlikely to be released or transferred.

This means the number of hearings could increase from 4,500 to 14,000, according to the Parole Board for England and Wales' annual report.