2 weeks Ago By The Telegraph
Prison officers could be issued with stab vests following the HMP Frankland knife attack by the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber. Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, announced that the review into the attack by Hashem Abedi will consider whether frontline prison officers should be given body armour . Abedi, who is serving a life sentence for his part in the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, which killed 22 people, attacked three officers with hot oil and homemade knives in a separation unit in the County Durham jail.
The guards sustained serious injuries and were taken to hospital, Counter Terrorism Policing North East said on Thursday. One suffered life-threatening stab wounds and remains in hospital. The Ministry of Justice has pledged to carry out a review following the incident, but the further announcement comes as union bosses have been calling for officers to be given stab vests and protective equipment after the incident shows “how dangerous our job is”.
Mark Fairhurst, chair of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA), told The Telegraph at the weekend that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) must rethink its opposition to issuing officers with stab vests, which he claimed they had resisted because it would make them look too militaristic and intimidating. “That’s the weakest and most pathetic of excuses. If you go to Tesco for your shopping, the security guard at the entrance is dressed like Robocop.
Do you feel intimidated or walk away?” he told The Telegraph. ‘Further questions to answer’ Mr Fairhurst also called for the tactical deployment of tasers in prisons for officers to protect themselves and the introduction of a “supermax” regime for terrorist prisoners under which they were only allowed out of their cells to eat, for visits, for exercise and medication. The MoJ has suspended access to kitchens in separation units in prisons, where Abedi’s attack took place in Frankland using knives believed to have been fashioned from either a baking tray or oven rack.
Ms Mahmood said: “I share the country’s shock and anger at the attack on our prison officers at HMP Frankland last weekend. “It is clear there are further questions to answer , and more that must be done. “For that reason, we are carrying out an independent review into these events.
“This will look into how this was able to happen, and what we must do to better protect our prison officers in the future. “This review will look specifically at this attack, but also more widely at how separation centres are run.” The Lord Chancellor added: “The Prison Service will also conduct a snap review into whether protective body armour should be made available to frontline staff.
” The rate of assaults on staff has increased by nearly a fifth in the past year to 120 attacks per 1,000 prisoners (10,496 assaults on staff in total), up 19 per cent in the year to September 2024. The probe is expected to report back its findings in the next few months. Ms Mahmood also said there will be an audit on carrying out 230 recommendations from 19 reviews looking at extremism in prisons.
“I know full well the dangers of the warped ideology of Islamist extremists . “I will not tolerate it within our prisons. “Wherever I find there is opportunity to strengthen our defences and better protect our staff and the public, I will do so.
” A chairperson to lead the independent review is yet to be appointed..
