14-05-2025
Prison officer slashed across neck by knife-wielding inmate
A prison officer at a high-security jail has been slashed across his neck by an inmate using an improvised knife.
A second officer at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes was attacked and punched by another inmate, who the Prison Officers' Association (POA) said was detained under terrorism laws. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has denied any terror link to either attack.
Woodhill, which houses one of three separation units for extremist prisoners, is reportedly holding inmates transferred from HMP Frankland in County Durham after Hashem Abedi, the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber, attacked three officers in April with hot cooking oil and homemade knives.
Abedi, who was jailed for life with a minimum of 55 years for his part in the Manchester bombing, has been transferred from Frankland to HMP Belmarsh in south London.
And at the weekend, it was reported that Southport killer Axel Rudakubana allegedly used a kettle to pour boiling water over an officer at Belmarsh.
Geoff Willetts, of the POA, said: 'I am advised that one of our members at HMP Woodhill was attacked by a prisoner who was detained under the Terrorism Act of 2008. The officer was assaulted and injured while carrying out his duties.
'In a separate incident at the same jail, a prisoner was told to return to his cell, and this resulted in a specialist officer being slashed with an improvised weapon, sustaining injuries to the neck and ear. The officer attended hospital where he required stitches and surgical glue applied to their injuries.'
The POA also disclosed that at Gartree Prison, Market Harborough, a prisoner who faked an epileptic fit attacked staff who attended to help him. A female officer's arm was broken in the incident.
The union has called for all front-line officers to be issued with stab vests to help protect them from attacks, particularly with weapons. Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, has ordered a rapid review to consider whether they should be provided.
The POA is also calling for select officers to be trained in the use of tasers, which Ms Mahmood has agreed to trial, and for dangerous offenders to be held under US style supermax conditions – meaning they are segregated, only allowed out under officer escort while cuffed, and restricted to a basic living regime.
Violence in jails 'out of control'
Steve Gillan, the POA general secretary, said: 'Escalating levels of violence are out of control in the prison service in England and Wales. It appears that [the Prison Service] have learnt nothing. They continue to ignore the calls from our members on the front line for urgent action to protect prison officers from violence.
'It is clear that prison regimes must be reviewed as a matter of urgency. We need action to protect officers before there is a fatality.'
Some 10,605 assaults on staff in male and female jails were recorded in 2024, up from 9,204 in 2023 and nearly three times the 3,640 in 2014.
