One of the Islamist terrorists behind the Manchester Arena bombing allegedly attacked three prison officers with weapons and cooking oil in a high-security jail.
Two officers suffered life-threatening injuries after being attacked in HMP Frankland in Durham by Hashem Abedi on Saturday. Abedi is serving life for 22 murders in the Manchester Arena bomb attack.
The officers suffered burns and stab wounds when Abedi threw hot cooking oil over them before using makeshift weapons to stab the guards, the Prison Officers Association Union said.
It is understood that Abedi was being held in one of the separation units in Frankland. These are designed for prisoners who pose a risk to staff and other inmates.
In 2020, Abedi, the brother of the Manchester bomber Salman Abedi, was convicted and sentenced to three years and 10 months for a “vicious attack” on a prison officer in the high-security unit of Belmarsh prison in May 2020.
In 2017, Salman Abedi detonated a suicide bomb at the Manchester Arena after an Ariana Grande concert. Twenty-two people were killed and 1,017 injured. Many were young girls barely in their teens. Ian Acheson, a former prison governor who advised the Government on extremism in jails, said: “This is a catastrophic security failure. This will be a resignation issue. They have failed to manage someone who is profoundly and manifestly a dangerous terrorist.
Hashem Abedi was in Libya at the time of the Manchester Arena atrocity, but was suspected by the police of having played an integral part in the planning and preparation of the bomb attack.
Abedi was handed 24 life sentences with a minimum term of 55 years before he can be considered for parole.