Sir Keir Starmer is “appalled” by an attack on three prison officers at the weekend and the government will urgently investigate what happened, his official spokesman has said.
The guards were attacked with hot oil and homemade weapons at HMP Frankland in County Durham on Saturday by Manchester bomb plotter Hashem Abedi, the trade union that represents prison officers said.
The Prime Minister’s comments came after news of a second violent prison attack at the weekend that saw convicted murderer John Mansfield killed at HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire.
Families of five of the victims of the Manchester Arena bomb – Megan Hurley, Eilidh Macleod, Chloe Rutherford, Liam Curry, and Kelly Brewster – have written to the Justice Secretary expressing “absolute disbelief” at the attack, the BBC reported.
The broadcaster said it had seen the letter, which read: “In our view, he should not be allowed any privileges whatsoever while serving a sentence for the deaths of 22 innocent lives and the injuring of many more.
“He should not have access to anything that he can weaponise, such as hot oil or items he can turn into blades.”
The families have called for Abedi to be put in permanent solitary confinement.
Russell Hayward, the boyfriend of Martyn Hett – who was also killed in the attack, joined calls for Abedi to be separated from other prisoners.
He told BBC Newsnight: “I feel like I’ve been failed again. We have all been failed again.
“This person, I won’t even mention his name, but he has caused more pain, inflicted more trauma and more people. And I think it’s outrageous that he has been able to do this.”
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “The Prime Minister is appalled by the attack that we saw at the weekend and his thoughts are with the officers involved.
“Prison staff work around the clock to keep the country safe and we will never tolerate the violence that is targeted towards them.
“It’s clear that something went terribly wrong in the management of this offender and the Government is committed to carrying out an investigation to urgently get answers.”
He went on: “Offenders should be managed in such a way that our prison officers are kept safe and there will be an investigation here into what happened that allowed this incident to happen.”
The Ministry of Justice said it will carry out a review following the attack, and has suspended access to kitchens in separation and close supervision units, where inmates are kept apart from the general prison population.
In the second incident, John Mansfield, 63, who was jailed for life in 2007 for the murder of his 63-year-old neighbour Ann Alfanso, was found dead at HMP Whitemoor near March, Cambridgeshire, on Sunday.
A 44-year-old man, a serving prisoner, has been arrested on suspicion of murdering Mansfield at the jail.
Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) said: “This is appalling news on the back of the serious life-threatening assaults at the weekend in Frankland prison.
“To have a death which is being treated as a murder investigation and now subject of a police investigation confirms everything the POA have warned about.
“The POA will not add anything as the police are investigating but suffice to say these are concerning times in the prison service.”
Ms Alfanso, who suffered from reduced mobility, was found dead at her home in Whalley Range, Manchester, by her carer in August 2006. She had been stabbed around 20 times in the head and neck.
Mansfield was sentenced in 2007 at Manchester Crown Court to life in prison with a minimum term of 30 years for her murder.
In 2014, he was handed a second life term after stabbing another prisoner with a broken plate at HMP Full Sutton, near York.
A Cambridgeshire Police spokesman said officers were called at about 4.10pm on Sunday “following the discovery of the body of a man in his 60s at HMP Whitemoor near March”.
They continued: “A 44-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. An investigation is ongoing.”
The force confirmed the arrested man is a serving prisoner.
A Prison Service spokesman said: “Police are investigating the death of prisoner John Mansfield at HMP Whitemoor on Sunday April 13.
“It would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”
The Prison and Probation Ombudsman will also investigate, as is procedure.
In a post on X, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said prison “governors and the Ministry of Justice have lost control”.
“It’s time they got a grip,” he said.
