Two prison officers stabbed by brother of Manchester Arena bomber (Image: Getty)
Two prison officers who were seriously injured as they were stabbed by Manchester bomb plotter Hashem Abedi are in a stable condition in hospital, the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) has said.
Abedi threw hot cooking oil over three officers on Saturday before stabbing them with “home-made weapons”, said the POA, a trade union covering prison staff.
Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) NE is leading the investigation into the “serious assault”.
The officers sustained life-threatening injuries including burns, scalds and stab wounds in the “unprovoked” and “vicious” attack, POA added.
The Prison Service confirmed three prison officers were treated in hospital after an attack by an inmate at HMP Frankland, County Durham.
One female officer was discharged by 4pm on Saturday.
On Sunday morning, POA national chairman Mark Fairhurst told the BBC: “First and foremost my thoughts are with the injured staff, their families and of course their colleagues who had to deal with the aftermath.
“Two are still in hospital with serious injuries but I’m glad to report they’ve stabilised.
“They all have burns and scalds and the two in hospital have severe stab wounds.”
CTP said on Saturday night “the suspect has been detained”. Abedi was convicted of assisting with the Manchester terror plot, in which his suicide bomber brother Salman Abedi killed 22 people by detonating a homemade rucksack-bomb in a crowd of concert-goers.
CTP’s acting senior national co-ordinator, Commander Dom Murphy, said: “Given the nature of the incident, it has been agreed that CTP North East will lead the investigation, supported by Durham Constabulary.
“This is an ongoing investigation which is in its early stages, and we are working hard to establish the facts. Therefore, we are unable to comment further at this time.”
Abedi was handed a record-breaking 55-year minimum term in August 2020 which he is currently serving at the category A HMP Frankland.
Category A is the highest level of security and Frankland has housed other notorious inmates, including Fusilier Lee Rigby’s terrorist killer Michael Adebolajo, Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, and Charles Bronson.
Frankland also has a separation centre. These centres, introduced in 2017, aim to control prisoners with extreme views, for example by preventing them from disrupting the prison estate, supporting acts of terrorism or radicalising other inmates.
Mr Fairhurst said the attack was carried out in a separation centre where inmates are allowed to use cooking facilities.
He told the BBC: “To allow that type of prisoner to access the kitchen and use the utensils that can be used as weapons against staff, and can inflict serious harm on staff, that needs to be removed immediately.
“We’re now worried about the knock-on effect of this and copycat incidents.
“It’s very difficult to get someone into the separation centre because of the process you have to go through, so the intelligence really needs to be on the ball to get someone contained in the separation centre.”
The centres are “for obvious reasons” well-resourced, with good staffing levels that include people who are specially trained to work in separation centres, he said.
A 2022 inspection found nine men in total were housed in separation centres, then operating in Frankland and HMP Woodhill, Buckinghamshire.
It said the Frankland unit is on a narrow corridor with a small “room for association” and an area for prisoners to cook and prepare food.
There are no facilities on the wing and staff could arrange for prisoners to visit the main prison gym or to be taken off the unit for education, the report said.
The centres were designed for inmates with any political or religious views but by 2022 they had only been used for Muslim men, the report said.
Abedi avoided a whole-life order because he was under 21 at the time he orchestrated the atrocity at the Ariana Grande concert in 2017.
The previous longest minimum term imposed on a terrorist in Britain was believed to have been 50 years in the case of David Copeland, who carried out a nail-bombing campaign in 1999.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said on social media site X on Saturday: “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.”
A Prison Service said: “Violence in prison will not be tolerated, and we will always push for the strongest punishment for attacks on our hardworking staff.”