Probation Officer Stabbed: What the Preston and Oxford Attacks Mean for Staff Safety

In July 2024, a probation officer was stabbed four times by a client at Preston Probation Office.

In the months that followed, a second probation officer was stabbed at the Oxford PDU. Two serious attacks on probation staff in a single year, and the data behind them suggests the risk is getting worse, not better.

In January 2026, Ryan Gee was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 15 years and six months after pleading guilty to the attempted murder of his probation officer at Preston Probation Office in Ashton-on-Ribble, Lancashire. He had arrived for a routine meeting carrying two knives and an imitation firearm.

He stabbed her four times - including in the chest - chased her into the reception area, and then threatened a second member of staff, trapping her at knifepoint. The attack was premeditated. A letter addressed to a different officer, and a notebook detailing his grievances against the probation service, were recovered from the scene.

The officer spent six weeks in hospital following extensive surgeries. In her victim impact statement, she described the psychological aftermath:

"I play the events of that day continuously over and over in my head, on a constant loop that I cannot escape from. It consumes me. I find myself catastrophising every situation, constantly scanning rooms for exits in case I need to escape. What was once ordinary now feels unsafe."

Months later, a second probation officer was attacked at the Oxford PDU - stabbed by a probation client in an assault serious enough to prompt immediate police attendance, witness statements, and the emergency closure of the office. Napo, the probation trade union, confirmed this was the second attack on probation premises in the same year, and that staff across England and Wales had been left with "a palpable fear about their safety in and outside of the workplace."

The Data Behind the Attacks

These are not isolated incidents. They reflect a deteriorating safety picture across the criminal justice sector that official statistics have been tracking for years.

Attacks like these fall into what's formally classified as Type 2 workplace violence, which is violence from someone with a legitimate reason to be on the premises, such as a client or service user.

Ministry of Justice figures for the 12 months to September 2024 recorded 10,496 assaults on prison and probation staff - a rate of 120 per 1,000 prisoners, up 19% on the previous year. Serious assaults on staff rose by 22% in the same period. By December 2024, assaults on staff had reached their highest level in the recorded time series.

The probation service is also operating under conditions that make risk harder to manage, not easier. According to evidence presented to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee in 2025:

• Probation officers were working at around 118% of capacity on average, with some regions reaching 126%
• Staff risk assessments were rated adequate in only 28% of cases - down from 60% in 2018–19
• The probation officer vacancy rate stood at 21% as of March 2025
• Serious Further Offence convictions among supervised offenders rose by 55% between 2021–22 and 2023–24

The probation caseload as at March 2025 stood at 241,540 supervised offenders. That figure is likely to increase further following the Independent Sentencing Review's recommendations to reduce the prison population through expanded community supervision - meaning more probation contacts, with more complex clients, managed by a workforce already stretched beyond safe capacity.

More high-risk contacts. Less capacity to assess risk. Environments not designed for the threat level they now face. This is the context in which a probation officer was stabbed in Preston, and in which another was stabbed in Oxford.

What Napo Is Demanding - And What Remains Unanswered

Following the Preston attack, Napo demanded the full internal investigation report be published, along with a national action plan covering the wider probation estate. The Health and Safety Executive received a mandatory report from the employer. At the time of writing, that full action plan has not been delivered.

Members have publicly highlighted basic physical security failures - including at least one office where the front entrance does not lock. The question of whether all probation offices should have a dedicated security presence remains unresolved.

Napo communicated directly to HMPPS senior management at the Probation Joint National Committee that "there is a palpable fear by many Probation staff about their safety in and outside of the workplace." That message was delivered following both attacks.

What is not in dispute is this: probation staff are routinely meeting high-risk individuals - often one-to-one, in unsecured office environments, with no physical backup. The emphasis in probation has always been on relationship-based supervision. That approach has genuine value. But it cannot serve as a substitute for training in how to recognise escalating threat, manage confrontation, and protect yourself when a situation breaks down.

How Stand2 Is Already Helping Probation Services Manage This Risk

Stand2 had an established presence in probation services before the Preston attack. Since the incidents at Preston and Oxford, that presence has grown significantly - probation regions across England have been approaching Stand2 to understand how they can better protect their staff, and the answer they keep finding is the same one that existing clients already know.

The reviews below are from probation officers who have been through Stand2's training in recent months. They are not historical endorsements - they reflect a programme that is being delivered right now, in probation offices across England, to staff who have returned to work in an environment where the threat feels very real.

That momentum is not accidental. It reflects something straightforward: probation managers are looking for training that is specifically designed for their environment, delivered by people who understand the risk their staff face, and evidenced by the people who have been through it. Stand2 is exactly that.

Our Level 2 Conflict Management & Personal Safety programme is tailored specifically for probation - built around the client profiles, risk scenarios, and operational environments your staff actually work in. This is not an off-the-shelf course with the name changed.

The risk profile in probation is distinct. Staff are meeting individuals one-to-one who may have histories of serious violence, who are under significant stress from licence conditions, who may feel persecuted by the very system they are required to report to, and who - as the Preston attack demonstrated - may arrive with premeditated intent to harm. Training designed for retail, housing, or general healthcare environments does not adequately prepare staff for that reality.

Our Level 2 Conflict Management & Personal Safety programme is Stand2's most widely delivered course. It is a structured, six-hour in-person programme designed specifically for staff who may encounter challenging behaviour or potential aggression where a foreseeable risk of physical harm exists. Every element of the programme - the scenarios, the examples, the risk frameworks - has been developed around the probation context specifically, reflecting the dynamics of supervising high-risk individuals in community settings.

What the Programme Addresses Directly

The failures that precede a serious incident - a probation officer stabbed, a colleague traumatised, an office closed - rarely happen without warning. They happen because warning signs were missed, because responses were inconsistent or indefensible, because staff did not know how or when to disengage. Our programme is designed to close each of those gaps.

Early recognition of escalating risk.

Staff learn to identify behavioural and environmental indicators of escalating conflict before it reaches a critical point - including the signals of covert intent that a surface-level read of a client will miss. This directly addresses the gap highlighted in the PAC's finding that adequate risk assessments were being completed in fewer than one in three probation cases.

Structured de-escalation under real pressure.

Participants apply evidence-based communication techniques to reduce tension and maintain control of interactions - including how to manage a person whose arousal level or intent makes standard dialogue ineffective. Staff leave able to set and maintain professional boundaries that reduce the likelihood of escalation, and to do so consistently.

Proportionate, defensible decision-making.

The programme teaches the hierarchy of responses - prevention first, de-escalation second, physical contact only as a last resort - and equips staff to make decisions under pressure that are legally, ethically, and organisationally defensible. In a sector where duty of care obligations are significant, this matters as much as the physical safety skills.

Safe withdrawal and low-level breakaway.

Where de-escalation is not possible, staff are trained in safe withdrawal strategies and low-level breakaway techniques designed to release from common grabs or holds and create the space needed to disengage. All physical elements are proportionate, trauma-informed, and appropriate for staff regardless of age or fitness level.

Incident recording that supports organisational learning.

Staff who complete the programme understand how to record and report incidents accurately - including near-misses and low-level incidents - in ways that support safeguarding, governance, and the identification of risk patterns before they escalate. Napo has specifically highlighted the importance of using systems like SPHERA to capture this data. Training that reinforces that culture is part of the safety infrastructure, not an add-on.

What Your Organisation Gains

Beyond individual staff capability, the programme delivers measurable organisational benefits: more consistent responses aligned with policy, a clearer audit trail of trained staff through the Stand2 Training Register, and reduced anxiety among staff in high-pressure environments. Every participant who completes the programme receives a uniquely numbered Stand2 certificate, and their details are entered onto the register we maintain on your behalf - giving your organisation a clear, auditable record of who has been trained and when refresher training is due.

What Probation Staff Say

The impact of the programme is best heard from the people who have been on it. These are recent reviews from probation staff who completed Stand2's Level 2 training:

"The conflict management course was a real eye opener. After 20 years in the Probation Service, I thought I knew it all — but I still learnt a great deal, especially the practical stuff about getting out of tricky situations. I would highly recommend this course." - Samminder Khan, Probation Service (Google review)

"I attended the Conflict Management and Personal Safety training delivered by Chris at Abbey Gardens Probation Office in Reading. The session was clear, engaging, and very informative. Chris explained the topics well and used practical examples that made the training easy to understand and relevant to our work. Overall, it was a very useful and valuable session." - Salah Uddin, Probation Service (Google review)

"I work for the Probation Service and this was a highly useful training exercise. Chris was engaging and supportive and created an environment where questions were answered and never made to feel silly." - Katie Cook, Probation Service (Google review)

"The training was really interesting, interactive, and will be so useful in my role at probation. Chris was a great trainer - he clearly has a wealth of experience. Brilliant day." - Danielle Abbott, Probation Service (5 Star Google review)

The Question Every Probation Manager Must Now Answer

Following two probation officers stabbed in a single year, with Napo documenting widespread staff fear and HMPPS under pressure to publish a safety action plan, the question for every probation service manager is straightforward: what structured, evidenced conflict management training do your staff currently hold?

Good intentions are not a risk assessment. A relationship-based supervision model is not a personal safety plan. And the duty of care your organisation holds towards every member of staff who walks into a meeting room with a high-risk client cannot be met without training that is specifically designed for the environment they work in.

The Preston officer's words - "what was once ordinary now feels unsafe" - should prompt action, not reflection.

Talk to Stand2 About Training for Your Probation Teams

Stand2 has delivered conflict management and personal safety training to probation services across England for over 25 years. Our Level 2 Conflict Management & Personal Safety programme is accredited, evidence-based, and delivered by trainers with direct experience of criminal justice environments.

If you manage a probation service or hold responsibility for staff safety and compliance, we would welcome a conversation.

Explore our Level 2 Conflict Management Training →

Sources

• Ryan Gee jailed for attempted murder of probation officer — BBC News, January 2026
• Serious assault on a staff member Oxford PDU — Napo
• Napo pushes for action on safety after Preston assault — Napo Magazine
• Safety in Custody Statistics, England and Wales — Ministry of Justice
• Efficiency and Resilience of the Probation Service — House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, 2025