A prison officer will be killed if the government does not get a grip following recent attacks, the shadow justice secretary said.
Robert Jenrick said violence against prison officers has “spiralled out of control in just the past month” after several were injured, by Axel Rudakubana at HMP Belmarsh last week, and by Hashem Abedi at HMP Frankland on 12 April.
Southport triple child killer Rudakubana allegedly threw boiling water from a kettle at a prison officer through a hatch in his cell door on Friday.
Manchester Arena bomb plotter Abedi threw hot cooking oil at three officers and stabbed them with improvised blades at a kitchen in a separation centre holding seven prisoners with extremist views, including extremist preacher Anjem Choudary.
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Asking an urgent question for a response to Rudakubana’s attack, Mr Jenrick queried why a “snap review” into prison safety ordered by the government after Abedi’s attack three weeks ago still has no answers.
“I’m warning now, if the government doesn’t get a grip, a prison officer will be killed,” he told the Commons.
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“We’ve had enough reviews, we need action. That’s the least prison officers deserve.”
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Mr Jenrick said every prison officer dealing with dangerous inmates should be provided with a stab vest “not in June, but now”.
He also called for justice minister Sir Nicholas Dakin to order the removal of “every kettle from high-risk prisoners” now, as he said officers have told him attacks with boiling water are “not uncommon”.
“I couldn’t care less if Rudakubana never had a hot drink again, nor would the British public,” he said.
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Sir Nicholas refused to ban kettles straight away, saying if a “risk is identified regarding kettle use, or intelligence is received that one might be used in assault, the kettle will be withdrawn”.
However, he said access to kitchens was withdrawn straight after Abedi’s attack, but the review into removing equipment, such as kettles, is complex.
He said the reviews, including one into Rudakubana’s attack, are being done “in fast time but they need to be done properly”.
Sir Nicholas said overcrowded prisons are causing increased violence to prison officers, an issue he accused the previous Conservative government of failing to tackle.
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North Durham Labour MP Luke Akehurst said many of his constituents are officers at HMP Frankland and revealed that during the attack by Abedi, they were unable to use batons as the space was too small to wield them, and the convicted murderer was “so enraged” pepper spray had no effect on him.
“Clearly, they need additional equipment,” he said.
Sir Nicholas added a trial into two types of tasers will be launched this summer for specialised officers, with the findings to inform any future use of them in prison “so that we can get it right in the future”.
