Islamist extremists are being allowed to “rule the roost” in Britain’s high-security prisons, Conservative justice spokesman Robert Jenrick has warned, after the horrific attack by Manchester Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi on three prison officers.
Mr Jenrick said the appalling events at HMP Frankland must mark a “turning point” in the way Britain handles its most dangerous inmates. He accused the prison service of prioritising the “welfare of wicked individuals” over the safety of its staff, describing a system where prisons have become places of “appeasement” rather than punishment.
It comes after Abedi, 28, who helped plan the 2017 Manchester Arena attack that murdered 22 people, launched a brutal assault on staff. Armed with two makeshift 20cm blades fashioned from a baking tray and a pan of boiling oil, Abedi attacked officers with devastating effect. One male guard was stabbed in the neck, narrowly avoiding death, while another suffered multiple stab wounds to the back, puncturing a lung. A female colleague was also left with serious burns.
Abedi, serving a record 55-year minimum term, was known to be one of the most dangerous inmates in Britain. Yet despite his history of violence behind bars, he was granted access to a “self-cook” kitchen within the prison’s separation unit – a facility supposed to house the most hardened extremist prisoners under close supervision.
The revelation that such a notorious terrorist was permitted to handle hot oil and sharp implements has sparked outrage. Mark Fairhurst, chairman of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA), has called for an immediate ban on self-cook kitchens for terrorist inmates and demanded that officers be issued with stab-proof vests and Tasers to protect themselves.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Mr Jenrick said: “Why was one of the most dangerous prisoners in the country allowed access to materials which could be used to attack prison officers? A full independent investigation into these catastrophic security failures must be initiated immediately.”
“The governor must provide answers to the searching questions, and should be expected to resign if these are not forthcoming,” he added.
The Ministry of Justice has confirmed a review is underway, amid warnings that other terrorist inmates could be inspired to launch copycat attacks. Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she would be pushing for “the strongest possible punishment” for Abedi.
However, former prison governor Professor Ian Acheson, who advised the Government on prison extremism, pointed out the difficulty of punishing a man already serving a half-century sentence. “It’s an inconceivable security lapse, and there must be an independent, externally-led review,” he said. “This attack shows that the state is not fully in control of Frankland Prison, or other high-security prisons housing terrorist inmates.”
Self-cook kitchens, introduced in separation centres as part of rehabilitation efforts, are meant to foster social interaction and life skills. However, Mr Fairhurst has warned that these privileges represent an unacceptable risk. “We are appeasing terrorists instead of treating them as the threat they represent,” he said. “We need to stop this now before someone is killed.”
Inspectors previously praised the facilities for offering inmates a sense of normality, but critics now say the policy is dangerously naïve, particularly in centres housing inmates who have resisted all attempts at deradicalisation.
Abedi’s attack is not his first behind bars. Shortly after his imprisonment in 2020, he and two others launched a vicious assault on two guards at Belmarsh Prison, likened by witnesses to a “pack of animals” set upon their prey.
Following that incident, he was transferred to HMP Frankland – a Category A prison that houses some of the country’s most infamous terrorists, including Michael Adebolajo, the killer of Fusilier Lee Rigby.
Tory MP Esther McVey said it was time for the authorities to take a far tougher line. “Abedi must now spend the rest of his 55-year sentence in solitary confinement,” she demanded.
The Ministry of Justice said in a statement: “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 hard-working staff safe.”
Counter-terrorism detectives have launched an investigation into the incident.
The assault has reignited wider concerns over Britain’s ability to manage convicted terrorists in the prison system. Professor Acheson warned that unless the Government acted swiftly, the country risked a crisis. “We came within millimetres of losing a prison officer to murder,” he said. “If our prison officers do not feel safe, we face a catastrophe.”
As the investigation proceeds, many are now asking whether Britain’s approach to extremist prisoners has been dangerously complacent – and whether urgent reforms are needed to reassert control before it is too late.
