Front-line prison officers to wear stab vests after string of attacks
Front-line prison officers in high security jails are to be issued with stab vests after a series of knife attacks on staff, the Justice Secretary has announced.
Shabana Mahmood told MPs that all prison officers working in specialist units where terrorists and dangerous offenders were isolated would be equipped with body armour.
The move has been recommended by a rapid review ordered by Ms Mahmood after Hashem Abedi, the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber, attacked three officers with two makeshift knives and hot cooking oil at the high-security HMP Frankland jail in Co Durham.
Last week, an officer at Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire was seriously injured when he was stabbed by an inmate. The weapon was believed to have been brought into the high-security jail by a drone.
Ms Mahmood said stab vests would initially be issued to officers in separation centres where the most dangerous terrorists were held, of which there are three in high-security jails.
Officers will also be provided with body armour in close supervision centres and segregation units, which are used to isolate inmates in the eight high-security jails in England and Wales.
The review is understood to say that more evidence is needed to determine whether the stab vests should be issued more widely.
Ms Mahmood told MPs: 'This is my initial response to the review but I will set out further action on body armour in due course.'
Review 'must go further'
Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, urged Ms Mahmood to go further after he commissioned a report recommending that all front-line officers should be issued with stab vests.
'When will she have the backs of all our brave prison officers by giving each and every one of them the protection that they need in the form of high-collar, stab-proof vests, not just a privileged few in the most limited circumstances?' he said.
The Ministry of Justice has already suspended the use of kitchens in separation units after Abedi is believed to have crafted his knives out of a baking tray. It is also planning a trial of Tasers in jails.
Ms Mahmood has commissioned Jonathan Hall, KC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, to explore ways of segregating dangerous offenders after the attack by Abedi, who is serving life for his part in the murder of 22 people in the Manchester Arena bombing of 2017.
The Prison Officers' Association has not only called for stab vests for staff but also for all terrorists and violent prisoners who assault officers to be held in US-style 'supermax' units or separate jails. They would only be allowed out of their cells for one hour a day, handcuffed and supervised by three officers.
Ms Mahmood also announced that Dame Vera Baird, the former victims' commissioner, will become interim chairman of the beleaguered Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) after it was heavily criticised over its handling of the scandal over Andrew Malkinson.
The CCRC's blunders delayed the release of Mr Malkinson from jail for a rape that he did not commit, leading to the removal of its chairman Helen Pitcher.
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