UPDATE: |Prison officers are ‘traumatised and angry’ after Hashem Abedi attack, boss says News

Three staff at HMP Frankland have been left with life-changing injuries

Prison officers should be issued with tasers and stab vests, says a union boss after an horrific attack allegedly carried out by Hashem Abedi.

The brother of Manchester Arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi is serving a 55 year jail term after being found guilty of the murders of 22 people killed in the May 2017 attack.

Hashem launched a “vicious” attack on three prison officers at HMP Frankland in Durham at the weekend, the Prison Officers’ Association said.

Today the union’s National Chairman, Mark Fairhurst, visited the prison.

Mr Fairhurst told the Manchester Evening News today: “I visited to see how my members were coping after what they have been through. They are traumatised, angry and fragile.

“Not good. Two of the officers attacked are still in hospital, stabilised, but with serious injuries and one has been discharged.”

He said that two of the three were “very lucky” to escape with their lives. One had a severed artery after being stabbed in the neck while another suffered multiple stab wounds to the back, causing a punctured lung.

The officers also received burns after sachets of butter which Abedi is believed to have hoarded were heated up and thrown as a hot oil over them.

Mr Fairhurst said Abedi is believed to have produced two homemade knives made out of a baking tray from the kitchen area.

Abedi, 28, was being held in a separation centre at Frankland, which has less than 10 prisoners and is where those considered to be the most dangerous and extremist are held.

Asked if Abedi had acted alone, Mr Fairhurst said: “That is for the police to decide. Counter Terrorism Police have now taken it over and we will have to wait and see what their investigations reveal.

“I know Abedi is being interviewed but I don’t know yet if it is officially being classed as a terror-related offence. In the next couple of days it could all come out.

“We all know the problems with the definition of terrorism which have been highlighted over the last couple of weeks. I am not a lawyer but all I can say is that this was an unprovoked, vicious, cowardly, abhorrent attack that has left three staff with life-changing injuries.

“We have already had two of our demands immediately met. That is, self cooking facilities at separation centres and close supervision centres are being removed. The government has also announced an independent inquiry into separation centres.

“That is two of our demands already achieved and I am waiting for a meeting with the Secretary of State for Justice to demand stab-proof vests. We also want the tactical use of tasers. I feel that during this incident if we had had a response and used tasers then we could have subdued the attack a lot sooner.”

Mr Fairhurst had said earlier: “I’m absolutely furious that terrorist prisoners, who pose such a significant risk to national security, are allowed the same freedoms and privileges as prisoners on normal location.

“We should not be allowing prisoners in separation centres to access cooking facilities, so they have the resources and implements that can inflict violence on staff.”

Also at the weekend a man was arrested on suspicion of murdering a convicted killer from Manchester at a high-security prison in Cambridgeshire. John Mansfield, 63, was found dead at HMP Whitemoor on Sunday. He was jailed in 2007 for murdering his neighbour, Ann Alfanso in Manchester. In 2014 Mansfield was handed a second life term for stabbing another prisoner at HMP Full Sutton at York.

Mr Fairhurst said: “Not a good weekend for the Prison Service. The Whitemoor incident was in a supervision centre. But it shows how dangerous our job is.”

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.

Mr Fairhurst said: “That’s his ideology. What do you do with someone like that? You control them and contain them.”

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.”

A statement issued at the weekend by Counter Terrorism Policing North East read: “The investigation into a serious assault of three prison officers at HMP Frankland remains ongoing today. Counter Terrorism Policing North East are leading the investigation, with support from Durham Constabulary.

“Two victims remain in hospital with serious injuries and the third victim was discharged from hospital yesterday. Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation. We are keeping an open mind as we investigate to establish the facts.”