Manchester terrorist was ‘silent and grinning’ as he attacked 3 officers with makeshift ‘cooking tray’ knives
MANCHESTER Arena terrorist Hashem Abedi was “silent and grinning” as he stabbed and scalded three prison officers in a horrific attack, with sources saying it was a miracle they survived.
Monster Abedi hoarded sachets of butter before melting them down for a “hot oil” attack on a female prison officer.
The warder, in her 30s, was scalded and two male guards stabbed with makeshift knives when ambushed in the kitchen of a separation unit at HMP Frankland, County Durham.
Abedi, 28, made two 30cm knives out of cooking trays he was allowed to use and wrapped kitchen towels around them for handles.
Other extremists are thought to have helped him plot the horror and last night Abedi is believed to have been moved to another jail to keep him away from them.
A source said: “This is a terrorist attack in a prison, not just an assault. It was extremely serious and clearly pre-meditated and planned.”
Counter-terror police and the Ministry of Justice are investigating Saturday morning’s horror.
Life-threatening injuries
The female warder was discharged from hospital that afternoon.
Her two male colleagues, one in his 30s, the other around 60, were stable with life-threatening injuries.
The older prison officer was slashed in the neck on the jail’s E wing. His colleague was stabbed five times in the back and suffered a punctured lung.
That officer’s partner wrote on his social media his family had suffered “the worst day of our lives”.
She added: “Thank you to all the people with well wishes of love.”
A source said yesterday: “Abedi was completely silent and grinning as he carried out the attack.
“There is no doubt he wanted to kill and it is miraculous they all survived. But he was acting like a silent assassin.
“Prison staff think Abedi collected loads of sachets of butter or margarine, hid them and used dozens to make the hot oil.
“They don’t give out bottles of olive oil as it’s dangerous, but they also don’t monitor how many little sachets of butter you take.
“The attack came totally out of the blue and he first threw the boiling substance over the female officer then stabbed the two guys.
“All hell broke loose. The guy stabbed in the neck was walking down a corridor and holding his wound, with blood pouring out.
“He was particularly lucky to survive. Other officers raced to the scene and helped the injured guys while a riot team formed outside.
“Luckily the men responded well to treatment and both are talking.
“After the attack, Abedi was restrained by the response team.
“He stayed totally calm throughout and is obviously unhinged.”
A white prison van understood to be carrying Abedi and escorted by two police cars was seen leaving Frankland at 5.45pm last night.
At least six guards are believed to have led Abedi to the bullet-proof van for transfer to HMP Full Sutton, York, which has its own close supervision centre unit.
Mark Fairhurst, national chair of union the Prison Officers’ Association, called for access to cooking facilities and items to be removed.
The extremists on the unit could have been planning the attack right in front of the staff and they’d have been none the wiser.
Source
Our source said inmates on the separation unit, which houses only extremist inmates, often speak to each other in Arabic.
The source added: “The officers are mostly local and none speak Arabic. So the extremists on the unit could have been planning the attack right in front of the staff and they’d have been none the wiser.
“Abedi acted alone but probably colluded with others.
“It is the sort of wing where they put Islamists who are never going to change their mindset.
“The only way they can punish them is by removing TV privileges, or access to the kitchen. Unfortunately that is why Abedi was allowed in there.”
Abedi is serving at least 55 years’ jail for helping suicide bomber brother Salman plan the 2017 attack at Manchester Arena which killed 22 and injured more than 1,000 at the end of an Ariana Grande concert.
In 2022, Hashem Abedi and two prisoners were found guilty of a 2020 attack on two prison officers at Belmarsh in South East London.
Abedi was handed another three years, ten months over that assault.
Yesterday Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick urged the Ministry of Justice to “get a grip”.
The MoJ said: “There will be a full review into how this attack was able to happen, alongside the police inquiry.”
A Counter Terrorism Policing spokesperson confirmed: “The investigation into a serious assault of prison officers remains ongoing.
“We are keeping an open mind as we investigate to establish the facts.”
Latest figures show 27,000 assaults on jail staff and inmates in 2023, up 28 per cent in a year.
‘Too softon prison Islamists menace’
THE Government was last night urged to “get a grip” on jail safety as anger over soft-touch prison bureaucrats mounted.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick called the stabbing of three guards on Saturday “a catastrophic security failure”.
He called on the Ministry of Justice to address officer safety and tackle Islamic extremists “ruling the roost” in prisons.
Mr Jenrick asked: “Why was one of the most dangerous prisoners in the country allowed access to materials which could be used to attack prison officers?
“We need a full independent investigation into the catastrophic security failure at HMP Frankland.
“I and others warned of Islamist extremists ruling the roost in prison wings across the country. Prison governors need to stop appeasing these offenders.
“The safety of prison officers is infinitely more important than the supposed ‘welfare’ of wicked individuals. We need to know the truth and the Ministry of Justice needs to get a grip.”
Meanwhile, Professor Ian Acheson, former head of security at London’s Wandsworth jail, said he fears a prison officer will be murdered if the Government does not take jail safety more seriously.
Calling on Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood to take action, he said: “Unless you get a grip on this, there will be a prison officer murdered by a terrorist on your watch.
“Helpless indifference and incompetence by officials is intolerable.”
He added: “Any senior prison official who says today front-line officers should not be given personal protective equipment to protect them from knives because ‘it’s too militaristic’ should be sued into oblivion.
“Or sacked. Or both.
“The safety of staff trumps woke points for bureaucrats.”