According to a 'study' being conducted by the Metropolitian Police and the Prison Service Professional Standards Unit, up to 1,000 members of prison staff are corrupt and helping get drugs, mobile phones and other contraband products into Prisons around England and Wales.

Well yes we would be wrong to think that an organisation of the Prison Service size didn't have a few bad apples in the barrel and yes they should be found out and dealt with.

But lets look at the life of a typical Prison Officer:

After siz weeks training an new prison officer (known as POELTS) will be pushed out onto the wings of their new establishment and expected to do the job of friend, father/mother, employer, councillor, jailer, and foe all in one day.

A prison officer can expect to bew verbally and physically abused, and depending on the type of prison you work in and the wing in which you work you can expect to be vomited upon and bled upon.

You're the first on the scene when a prisoner cuts the wrists, tries to hang themselves or even succeeds in hanging themselves, YOUR the one cutting them down from the window bars and trying to save a life.

You start work at 6am and some days don't finish until 9pm with only a lunch hour to keep you going.

Your expected to keep good order and disipline while gaining the trust of prisoners.

You're expected to meet key performance targets, keep up your paperwork and look after prisoners all at the same time.

You're expected to continue your training in every aspect of the Prison Service while looking after prisoners.

And your expected do to all this and more for just £17.500 per year...as the Police advertising says....'Could You?'

And when you tell the public what you do the reaction you will normally get is 'Oooh that must be interesting', 'Oh I couldn't do that' or 'Is it anything like Bad Girls'

The fact is people outside the Prison Service can never understand the conditions under which you work and the pressure under which you do it in.

Corruption is wrong, and will always be wrong and those involved need to be rooted out, but before you judge a Prison Officer and ask if he's on the take, ask yourself this. Would YOU do the job under the present conditions of overcrowding, underfunding and pressure? I doubt it.

So next time you meet a prison officer or even a civilian member of prison staff, have some respect for the job they do.