Latest news with #IslamistGangs
BreakingNews.ie
3 days ago
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Tories in call to arm specialist prison officers to counter Islamist gangs
The Conservatives have called for some UK prison officers to have access to firearms to counter 'out of control' Islamist gangs and violent prisoners. Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said specialist teams should be armed with Tasers, stun grenades, and in some circumstances, lethal weapons. Advertisement He also called for high-collar stab vests to be provided to frontline officers right away, citing the threat from inmates after recent attacks on prison officers. 'Islamist gangs and violent prisoners in our jails are out of control. It's a national security emergency, but the Government is dithering. 'If they don't act soon, there is a very real risk that a prison officer is kidnapped or murdered in the line of duty, or that a terrorist attack is directed from inside prison,' he wrote in The Telegraph. Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick (PA) He said he had commissioned former prison governor Ian Acheson to carry out a rapid review. Advertisement 'We have to stop pussy-footing around Islamist extremists and violent offenders in jails,' he wrote. 'That means arming specialist prison officer teams with Tasers and stun grenades, as well as giving them access to lethal weapons in exceptional circumstances. 'If prison governors can't easily keep terrorist influencers and radicalising inmates apart from the mainstream prisoners they target, then we don't control our prisons – they do. We must take back control and restore order by giving officers the powers and protection they need.' It come after attacks by high-profile inmates. Advertisement Manchester Arena plotter Hashem Abedi targeted prison staff with boiling oil and homemade weapons in a planned ambush last month. Southport killer Axel Rudakubana allegedly attacked a prison officer at HMP Belmarsh earlier this month by pouring boiling water over them. UK justice secretary Shabana Mahmood has ordered a snap review into whether stab vests should be used more routinely, and a trial that will give specialised officers dealing with serious incidents Tasers is due to be launched this summer. Officers already have access to batons and Pava spray, a synthetic form of pepper spray, in men's prisons in the public sector. Advertisement A British Ministry of Justice source said the UK government has a 'zero-tolerance approach' to violence and extremism in prisons. 'The last Government added just 500 cells to our prison estate, and left our jails in total crisis. In fourteen years, they closed 1,600 cells in the high-security estate, staff assaults soared, and experienced officers left in droves. Now the arsonists are pretending to be firefighters. 'This Government is cleaning up the mess the last Government left behind. We are building new prisons, with 2,400 new cells opened since we took office. And we take a zero-tolerance approach to violence and extremism inside.'
The Independent
3 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Tories in call to arm specialist prison officers to counter Islamist gangs
The Conservatives have called for some prison officers to have access to firearms to counter 'out of control' Islamist gangs and violent prisoners. Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said specialist teams should be armed with Tasers, stun grenades, and in some circumstances, lethal weapons. He also called for high-collar stab vests to be provided to frontline officers right away, citing the threat from inmates after recent attacks on prison officers. 'Islamist gangs and violent prisoners in our jails are out of control. It's a national security emergency, but the Government is dithering. 'If they don't act soon, there is a very real risk that a prison officer is kidnapped or murdered in the line of duty, or that a terrorist attack is directed from inside prison,' he wrote in The Telegraph. He said he had commissioned former prison governor Ian Acheson to carry out a rapid review. 'We have to stop pussy-footing around Islamist extremists and violent offenders in jails,' he wrote. 'That means arming specialist prison officer teams with Tasers and stun grenades, as well as giving them access to lethal weapons in exceptional circumstances. 'If prison governors can't easily keep terrorist influencers and radicalising inmates apart from the mainstream prisoners they target, then we don't control our prisons – they do. We must take back control and restore order by giving officers the powers and protection they need.' It come after attacks by high-profile inmates. Manchester Arena plotter Hashem Abedi targeted prison staff with boiling oil and homemade weapons in a planned ambush last month. Southport killer Axel Rudakubana allegedly attacked a prison officer at HMP Belmarsh earlier this month by pouring boiling water over them. Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has ordered a snap review into whether stab vests should be used more routinely, and a trial that will give specialised officers dealing with serious incidents Tasers is due to be launched this summer. Officers already have access to batons and Pava spray, a synthetic form of pepper spray, in men's prisons in the public sector. A Ministry of Justice source said the Government has a 'zero-tolerance approach' to violence and extremism in prisons. 'The last Government added just 500 cells to our prison estate, and left our jails in total crisis. In fourteen years, they closed 1,600 cells in the high-security estate, staff assaults soared, and experienced officers left in droves. Now the arsonists are pretending to be firefighters. 'This Government is cleaning up the mess the last Government left behind. We are building new prisons, with 2,400 new cells opened since we took office. And we take a zero-tolerance approach to violence and extremism inside.'
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
MPs call for prison wardens to be armed with Tasers, stun grenades and 'baton rounds' following string of attacks in UK jails
Prison wardens must be armed with Tasers, stun grenades and 'baton rounds' that fire rubber bullets to protect themselves against violent criminals, Conservative MPs have said. Armouries should also be built in high-security jails, holding lethal weapons as a last resort against violent prisoners, according to proposals to get tough in jails after a spate of attacks. Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick also wants solitary confinement introduced for gang leaders who are radicalising other inmates to tackle Islamist threats in British jails. Violent prisoners should also have no access to kitchens and appliances, he said. It comes after a series of attacks in prisons, including Southport killer Axel Rudakubana, who allegedly injured a prison officer with boiling water from a kettle. The calls follow a Tory-backed review by former prison governor Ian Acheson. Mr Jenrick said: 'Islamist gangs and violent prisoners in our jails are out of control. It's a national security emergency but the government is dithering. 'If they don't act soon, there is a very real risk a prison officer is kidnapped or murdered in the line of duty, or that a terrorist attack is directed from inside prison.' He added: 'We have to stop pussy-footing around Islamist extremists and violent offenders in jails. 'That means arming specialist prison officer teams with Tasers and stun grenades, as well as giving them access to lethal weapons in exceptional circumstances.' Mr Acheson said: 'The threat to officer safety is now intolerable and must be met decisively by the Government.' A Ministry of Justice source said: 'The last Government added just 500 cells to our prison estate and left our jails in total crisis. 'In 14 years, they closed 1,600 cells in the high-security estate, staff assaults soared and experienced officers left in droves. Now the arsonists are pretending to be firefighters. 'We are building new prisons, with 2,400 new cells opened since we took office. 'And we take a zero-tolerance approach to violence and extremism inside.'
Telegraph
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Attacks on prison officers by Muslim inmates double
The number of Muslim prisoners involved in attacks on officers has more than doubled in four years to nearly eight a day, official figures have revealed. The data from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), published in the wake of the stabbing of three officers by the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber, show there were 2,916 attacks on staff by Muslim prisoners in 2024, up from 1,393 in 2020. Muslim prisoners accounted for more than a quarter of the 11,180 inmate attacks in 2024 – with a disproportionately higher number relative to their prison population in England and Wales. The 2,916 attacks on staff represented a rate of just over 18 assaults for every 100 members of the Muslim prison population, compared with 12.6 for the 4,955 assaults on staff by Christian prisoners. Prof Ian Acheson, a former prison governor who advised the Government on extremism in jails, said the general rise in violence was 'much more pronounced' among those who identified as Muslims. 'In my view, this is because of a general collapse of authority and order due to poor training, leadership, resourcing and overcrowding. There seems to be a more oppositional environment generally,' he said. 'But it is possible that the rise of Muslim gangs and their visibility across the high security prison estate, where there is a constant struggle for power and space has had an additional impact.' A 2023 report by the terrorism watchdog said the prison service had failed to recognise the dangers Islamist gangs posed in prisons. It added that prison staff were so concerned with being labelled as racist that Muslim terrorists had been able to seize control of wings and set up sharia courts behind bars. Prof Acheson said it was more important to record incidents by faith rather than religious affiliation to get to the root of extremism in jails, as he recommended in his report to the Government in 2016. Recent wave of violence In April, Hashem Abedi, 28, who is serving a 55-year sentence for 22 murders for his part in the Manchester Arena bombing, attacked three prison officers with two makeshift knives and boiling cooking oil in a special separation unit for Islamist extremists in HMP Frankland. Two officers suffered life-threatening injuries. In May, Axel Rudakubana, the man who killed three girls in Southport, allegedly used a kettle to pour boiling water over an officer at HMP Belmarsh in south London, where he is currently being held. Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, has ordered a review into ways of segregating dangerous offenders including Islamist terrorists in the wake of the attacks. Data obtained by Maslaha, a Muslim charity, found prison officers were more likely to use force against Muslim inmates than other prisoners. The official figures, obtained through freedom of information requests, showed that prisoners in eight of the nine jails with high Muslim populations were more likely to be confronted with batons, made to wear rigid bar handcuffs or deliberately held in a painful position. The figures, which include Belmarsh, do not show whether the disproportionate use of force against Muslim prisoners by staff was a result of discrimination or because the inmates were worse behaved than others. Maslaha said it reflected a 'culture of Islamophobia and racism that runs through the prison system', but the POA, a trade union for prison staff, maintained officers only used force as a 'last resort' and in a 'proportionate and reasonable' way. An MoJ spokesman said: 'We take attacks on our hard-working staff incredibly seriously. The vast majority of attacks did not involve Muslim prisoners.' Moj sources said for all religions, the figures included attacks where there may be several prisoners involved, of whom some may not have directly assaulted an officer.
