daniel sanford, bbc news, at the old bailey.nd and wales and a lack of space is making it harder to keep rival gangs apart — that's what prison officers have told the bbc. and the government acknowledges that chronic overcrowding in men's prisons is making it impossible for staff to deal with gangs effectively. the number of assault on prisons and staff injails has increased by over a quarter in in the last four years 0ur senior uk correspondent, sima kotecha, reports — and a warning, you may find some of her report disturbing: just moments before an inmate has his ear cut off during a prison gang fight. there's people there waiting for you as soon as you come in. those who've been inside tell us gang violence is rife and there's no escape for new inmates. they have every kind of weapons in there. we're talking about a potential murder weapon here, aren't we? and some prison officers say it's getting worse. i've seen a murder. i've seen sort of mass brawls, assaults, serious assaults, stabbings. there's been a dramatic increase