Prison guard union chief claims Islamic terrorists are exempt from sniffer dog searches at Manchester jihadi attack jail
PRISON officer union bosses say sniffer dogs have been banned from the unit that held terror plotter Hashem Abedi — after terrorists complained they offended their Muslim faith.
Officers at HMP Frankland used the hounds to search inmates as they returned from the exercise yard.
But the head of the prison officers’ union says checks were axed after those held at the unit said coming into contact with the animals was against their religious beliefs.
Mark Fairhurst, national chair of the Prison Officers’ Association, said: “When it first opened, every prisoner housed on that unit was thoroughly searched on the unit, and when they left the unit and when they returned to the unit. On occasion, dogs were used.
“The prisoners complained that it interfered with their religious beliefs.
“The management committee overruled the staff and removed the dogs from searching those prisoners.
“We appease these prisoners and pander to them. Why? Why are we so obsessed with upsetting prisoners, terrorist prisoners, whose sole purpose is to murder prison officers?”
Hashem Abedi, 28 — brother of Ariana Grande concert bomber Salman — threw hot oil and knifed staff with makeshift weapons at Frankland last weekend.
Three officers, including a woman, were said to be injured but the toll had been updated to four.
Frankland’s Separation Unit was set up in 2017 to keep terrorist prisoners from other inmates — to stop the spread of dangerous ideologies.
Among those held there, in the prison near Durham, was hate preacher Anjem Choudary.
It has since been emptied of prisoners, with Abedi moved to a segregation cell in Belmarsh Prison, South East London.
Ex prison governor Ian Acheson — who carried out a 2016 review into Islamist extremism — told The Sun on Sunday: “We are putting the security, safety and welfare of front-line staff constantly at risk because we’re pandering to people on the basis that staff fear being accused of racism, or bosses of legal challenge.”
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “It’s pathetic if HMP Frankland has folded to Islamist prisoners and allowed them to circumvent security checks.
“This would allow Islamist gangs to control prison wings across the country. Officers should not fear being labelled racist if they step in to restore order and control from radical Islamist prisoners.”
Last night Ministry of Justice sources insisted there had been no operational changes to the use of sniffer dogs at high-security prisons including Frankland.
But Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “Wherever I find there is an opportunity to strengthen our defences, and better protect our staff and the public, I will do so.
“The Prison Service will also conduct a snap review into whether protective body armour should be made available to front-line staff.”
Some branches of the Muslim faith regard dog saliva to be impure and contact should be avoided with it.
Ex-Labour MP Khalid Mahmood, the first British Muslim Pakistani elected to Parliament, said: “The feeling is that you don’t know where the dog has been, so your clothing would not be appropriately clean for you to pray in after that happens.
“If you need to use dogs, you should be able to use them, with the right facilities available to wash and change afterwards.”