Counter Terrorism Policing will lead the investigation after a Manchester Arena terrorist ‘attacked three prison officers with cooking oil and makeshift weapons’ on Saturday.
The officers received life-threatening injuries after being assaulted by Hashem Abedi at HMP Frankland, County Durham, on Saturday, the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) said.
Abedi, 28, is serving life at the high-security prison for helping his brother plot 22 murders in the Manchester Arena bombing.
The officers suffered burns, scalds and stab wounds when Abedi threw hot cooking oil over them before using makeshift weapons to stab them in the ‘unprovoked’ and ‘vicious’ attack, the POA added.
A source told The Sun Abedi was preparing food in a kitchen at the category A jail, dubbed ‘Monster Mansion’, when his terrifying rampage began and he started throwing scalding oil on a pair of guards.
The attacker is then said to have produced two huge homemade weapons with 20cm long blades before he started slashing at the duo as well as another officer.
The source said: ‘It was horrific and a total bloodbath. ‘There were even fears this was a terror attack and that hazardous materials could be in play.’
One of the guards was stabbed in the neck once and another officer was stabbed five times in the back, according to the source.
A Manchester Arena terrorist has ‘attacked three prison officers with cooking oil and makeshift weapons’, according to the Prison Officers’ Association (POA). The officers received life-threatening injuries after being assaulted by Hashem Abedi (pictured) at HMP Frankland, County Durham, the union said
A view of HMP Frankland in Durham, where the police officers were attacked earlier today
A picture of the scene following the Manchester Arena bombing
This picture shows police interviewing Hashem following the horrific 2017 Manchester Arena terror attack
Salman Abedi, Hashem’s brother, at Victoria Station making his way to the Manchester Arena, on May 22, 2017
All three officers were rushed to hospital after the ‘serious assault’.
Two are still receiving treatment, and they have serious injuries.
Prison service sources said the third, a female, was released after being treated.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: ‘The appalling attack on prison officers by one of the terrorists involved in the Manchester Arena bombing is extremely concerning.
‘My thoughts are with the officers affected. This deeply serious security failure must be a turning point.’
Prison union sources suggested that Abedi may have stolen a weapon from a kitchen although there were unconfirmed reports that a knife may have been carried into the prison via a drone, according to The Telegraph.
The attacker was restrained by prison officers who raced to the scene before a riot squad arrived.
Police, paramedics, and an ambulance Hazardous Area Response Team—a unit specially trained to deal with dangerous situations and hazardous materials—were also scrambled to the prison.
Hashem (pictured posing with a gun) was in Libya at the time of the bombing, having left the UK weeks earlier. He offered no defence to the charges that he had helped his brother plan the attack on the Manchester Arena in May 2017, killing children, teenagers and adults as they poured out of an Ariana Grande concert or waited for their loved ones, and critically injuring dozens more
Emergency services responded in force (pictured) to the attack during the Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena
Former prison governor Ian Acheson told the Telegraph: ‘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.
‘One of my recommendations to ministers was that they should have an independent adviser on counter-terrorism in prisons as I had no confidence in the senior leadership of the prison and probation service to manage the terrorist threat.’
Mr Acheson stressed the importance of independent oversight into how the incident was managed.
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.’
The incident comes five years after Abedi was convicted of a ‘vicious attack’ on a prison officer in the high-security unit of Belmarsh prison in May 2020.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: ‘Three prison officers have been treated in hospital after an attack by a prisoner at HMP Frankland.
The 22 people killed in the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017
‘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 hard-working staff.’
The national chairman of the POA, Mark Fairhurst, added: ‘First and foremost, my thoughts are with the injured staff, their families and colleagues. No Officer should be subject to cowardly and vicious attacks at work.
‘The POA will support our members as much as we need during this traumatic time, this attack displays the dangers brave Prison Officers face on a daily basis.
‘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.’
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood posted on X, formerly Twitter: ‘I am appalled by the attack of three brave officers at HMP Frankland today. My thoughts are with them and their families.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick (pictured) called the attack ‘deeply concerning’
Former prison governor Ian Acheson (pictured) blamed the prison’s management of the dangerous inmate
‘The police are now investigating. I will be pushing for the strongest possible punishment.
‘Violence against our staff will never be tolerated.’
Abedi was jailed for life in August 2020 and is currently serving at the category A HMP Frankland.
He offered no defence to the charges that he had helped his brother plan the attack on the Manchester Arena in May 2017, killing children, teenagers and adults as they poured out of an Ariana Grande concert or waited for their loved ones, and critically injuring dozens more.
Abedi was charged with the murders in a bold move by the Crown Prosecution Service even though he was in Libya at the time of the suicide attack by his older brother, Salman who died in the attack.
Duncan Penny QC, prosecuting, told the jury Hashem Abedi was ‘just as responsible for this atrocity, as surely as if he had selected the target and detonated the bomb himself’.
Category A is the highest level of security, housing some of the country’s most serious criminals including Levi Bellfield, Ian Huntley and Wayne Couzens.