Prison guards have been calling for more protection “for years” to avoid attacks like the one by the Manchester Arena bomber’s brother on Saturday, according a prison union boss.
The Prison Officers Association (POA) said three prison officers were attacked by 28-year-old Hashem Abedi – the brother of Salman Abedi – and that he threw hot cooking oil over the guards before stabbing them with “improvised knives”, potentially made from a baking tray.
Speaking to Sky News’ Kamali Melbourne on Sunday, POA national chairman Mark Fairhurst called for “change” after the officers were taken to hospital following the attack at category A Frankland prison, in County Durham, shortly before 11am on Saturday.
One female officer was discharged at 4pm on Saturday afternoon, while the two other officers remain in hospital in a stable condition.
One of them has a punctured lung, according to Mr Fairhurst.
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The attack is said to have happened at a separation centre, a small unit sometimes referred to as a “prison within a prison”, usually used to house dangerous prisoners and those deemed a risk of radicalising other inmates.
Mr Fairhurst has been critical of safety in place in separation centres.
He said: “These separation centres hold the most violent and the worst threat to national security when it comes to terrorist offenders, and we’re allowing them the freedoms and privileges of everybody else on normal location [in prison].
“That has to change, along with the protections that prison staff are afforded on duty. And we’ve been calling for several years now for stab-proof vests to be issued to staff on the front line, but it’s been consistently denied. That has to change.”
He said the POA has repeatedly been told stab-proof vests “look too militaristic and might intimidate prisoners”.
“Now we’re dealing with murderers, armed robbers, major criminals and terrorists and they’re worried about us intimidating them because of the uniform we wear. Staff safety is paramount,” he said.
He added the POA had requested an urgent meeting with Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood over the incident.
“What’s appalling to me is they are allowed the freedoms and privileges that people on normal location enjoy, and they are allowed access to cooking facilities and the resources to fashion weapons to attack staff,” he continued.
“As far as I’m concerned, separation centres are there for one reason and one reason alone: to control and contain the most prolific and the biggest threat and the most serious terrorist offenders that the system holds. That’s all we need to do give them their basic entitlements, control them and contain them. Nothing else.”
In a statement on Sunday, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Our thoughts remain with the two prison officers still in hospital as they recover.
“There will be a full review into how this attack was able to happen, alongside the separate police inquiry.
“The government will do whatever it takes to keep our hardworking staff safe.”
Counter Terrorism Policing is leading an investigation into the incident.
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Ian Acheson, the former prison governor and former head of security at Wandsworth Prison, recommended the creation of separation units to the government in 2016.
He told Sky News the units have “devolved” into places where the most dangerous prisoners are “allowed far, far too much latitude to be able to fashion weapons and assault prison officers in this appalling way”.
He said the possibility of Abedi having access to cooking oil was “an inconceivable security lapse”.
“This attack and others, other attacks like them indicate that the state is not fully in control of Frankland prison and indeed other high security prisons where a lot of other terrorist prisoners are being held,” he added.
On Saturday, Ms Mahmood said on X: “I am appalled by the attack of three brave officers at HMP Frankland today. My thoughts are with them and their families.
“The police are now investigating. I will be pushing for the strongest possible punishment. Violence against our staff will never be tolerated.”
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Hashem Abedi was previously found guilty, along with two other convicted terrorists, of attacking a prison officer at southeast London’s Belmarsh prison in 2020.
The officer was hit with a chair, repeatedly punched and kicked when he was set upon by Hashem Abedi, Parsons Green Tube bomber Ahmed Hassan and Muhammed Saeed, who spoke about carrying out a knife attack in London.
Hashem Abedi was found guilty by a jury of 22 counts of murder, attempted murder and plotting to cause an explosion likely to endanger life over the Manchester Arena bombing.
