The terrorist brother of the Manchester Arena bomber is alleged to have seriously injured three prison officers in an attack at a high-security prison.
Hashem Abedi – who is serving at least 55 years for the murders of 22 people in the May 2017 atrocity – threw hot cooking oil over three officers at HMP Frankland in an attack on Saturday, according to the Prison Officers’ Association (POA).
He then produced home made weapons and proceeded to stab the officers, who suffered life-threatening injuries including burns, scalds and stab wounds, the union said.
Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) NE will lead the investigation into the “serious assault”.
Abedi is one of the only prisoners in the country held at a specialist separation unit for extremists – where the attack allegedly took place – inside the Category A prison in County Durham.
The Prison Service confirmed that three prison officers were treated in hospital after an attack by a prisoner at Frankland. One female officer was discharged by 4pm on Saturday.
A spokesperson said: “Police are now investigating so it would be inappropriate to comment further. Violence in prison will not be tolerated, and we will always push for the strongest punishment for attacks on our hardworking staff.”
Abedi is serving 24 life sentences after being found guilty of 22 counts of murder, attempted murder and plotting to cause an explosion likely to endanger life over the Manchester Arena attack, which he conspired to carry out with his older brother Salman Abedi.
Describing the alleged attack on Saturday as “cowardly and vicious”, the POA’s national chair Mark Fairhurst said it displayed “the dangers brave prison officers face on a daily basis”.
He added: “Separation centres hold the most dangerous terrorist offenders who simply do not wish to alter their ideology and as this event confirms, are determined to inflict violence on those who hold them securely.
“We must now review the freedoms we allow separation centre prisoners have. I am of the opinion that allowing access to cooking facilities and items that can threaten the lives of staff should be removed immediately.
“These prisoners need only receive their basic entitlements and we should concentrate on control and containment instead of attempting to appease them. Things have to change.”
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.”
Frankland is one of three prisons in England and Wales containing a separation unit intended to house the most dangerous prisoners in thrall to extremist ideologies, which were first announced in 2017 following a review into extremism in prisons.
While the three units have a total of 28 places, they were occupied by just nine men and the unit at HMP Full Sutton was closed entirely when the facilities were last inspected in 2022.
However, a report in The Times earlier this month alleged that, instead of extremists, the centres at Frankland were actually being used to house prisoners who were receiving death threats after refusing to join Islamist gangs.
Criminal barrister Tony Wyatt, who discovered that separation centres were being used for this purpose while visiting clients at Frankland, told the outlet: “There are so many who are members of Muslim gangs in prison, you just can’t contain the problem.
“If the solution was to separate them — and I’m not suggesting it is — you would need entire prisons dedicated to that separation. And not just one prison, multiple prisons. That’s the scale of it.”
Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood said on Saturday that she was “appalled by the attack of three brave officers at HMP Frankland”, adding: “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.”
Additional reporting by PA
