Dangerous inmates should not have access to prison kitchen, union chair says

Inmates in the jail where three guards were allegedly attacked by the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber were allowed in a kitchen with knives despite being assessed as being so dangerous they should be isolated from other prisoners, according to claims by a union official.

The prime suspect for the attack is Hashem Abedi, 28, brother of the Manchester Arena bomber. The attacker used a makeshift sharp weapon fashioned out of metal during the sustained attack, as well as cooking fat. One officer suffered third degree burns.

After the incident, the government announced measures to increase safety in the facility, one of which was the banning of some of the most dangerous offenders from the prison cooking area.

Mark Fairhurst, national chair of the Prison Officers’ association (POA), said staff were furious, and many had been traumatised by the injuries their colleagues had suffered, with two still in hospital.

He said inmates had access to meals in keeping with their dietary requirements, and should not have been allowed access to a kitchen where dangerous utensils were stored.

Fairhurst said: “You are giving them the resources to fashion weapons and attack staff. Especially the ideological prisoners, who will not change.”

The union had repeatedly called for stab vests for its members. One guard is said to have suffered five stab wounds to their torso, damage which the POA said could have been limited by the availability of vests.

The Guardian understands that also housed in the unit was Anjem Choudary, serving life imprisonment after being convicted in 2024 of directing a terrorist organisation, membership of a proscribed organisation, and encouraging support for a terrorist organisation.

He is believed to have been in the prison gym at the time of the attack, and in 2016 was convicted of supporting Islamic State.

Counter-terrorism police are leading the investigation into the attacks, with the separation unit used to house extremist prisoners believed to pose a danger of radicalising others.

Detectives have been able to speak to the three prison officers who were attacked, but only briefly to the two male ones who suffered the worst injuries and who as of Monday, were still in hospital. Their lives are not believed to be in danger, and the injured female prison officer has been released.

Fairhurst said: “Staff are traumatised and angry. It has affected them as they were such horrific assaults on their colleagues.”

One line of inquiry is whether the attacks were premeditated. Fairhurst said that until the weekend, Abedi had shown no signs of trouble, and that detectives were searching the jail for where the metal used to make the knife-like weapon came from, alongside any Islamist propaganda.

After the attacks, the prison service suspended permission for inmates on separation units to access kitchens and the sharp equipment they contain. The Ministry of Justice, responsible for prisons in England and Wales, would not say where Abedi is located.

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The suspect for the attacks, Abedi, is understood not to be under formal arrest, though he is under investigation. This avoids detectives being under time limits to complete vital stages of their investigation, and any risk their suspect poses is mitigated as he is already behind bars and is also isolated.

Families of five of the victims of the 2017 Manchester Arena bomb – Megan Hurley, Eilidh Macleod, Chloe Rutherford, Liam Curry, and Kelly Brewster – wrote to the government describing their “absolute disbelief” at the attack, demanding Abedi be placed in permanent solitary confinement.

The BBC reported the letter, which said: “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.”

Keir Starmer’s official spokesperson said: “The prime minister is appalled by the attack that we saw at the weekend, and his thoughts with the officers involved. It’s clear that something went terribly wrong in the management of this offender and the government has committed to carry out an investigation to urgently get answers.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We’ve already taken immediate action to suspend access to kitchens in separation and close supervision centres. We will also launch a full independent review into how this attack was able to happen.”