Prison safety a 'total disgrace', home secretary admits after Southport killer 'attacks prison officer with boiling water'

Prison information is simply a ‘total disgrace,’ the location caput has admitted aft the Southport triple slayer allegedly attacked a situation officer. 

Supervision of Axel Rudakubana, 18, was reportedly downgraded conscionable earlier helium utilized a kettle successful his compartment to boil h2o which helium past launched implicit the serviceman astatine HMP Belmarsh connected Thursday. 

It comes conscionable weeks aft Manchester Arena bomber Hashem Abedi attacked 3 situation officers astatine HMP Frankland by stabbing them with homemade weapons and throwing blistery cooking lipid connected them. 

The attacks person led to calls for Britain’s astir unsafe inmates to beryllium housed successful US-style ‘supermax’ conditions with nary interaction with different prisoners oregon entree to kettles and cooking facilities. 

Home caput Yvette Cooper agreed determination was a ‘crisis successful our prisons.’ 

‘[The onslaught was] a full disgrace,’ she told LBC Radio. 

‘Prison officers bash a precise hard occupation and they merit to beryllium kept harmless and person our support, and truthful we are taking these incidents precise seriously.’ 

Shadow justness caput Robert Jenrick posted a video successful which helium said helium had warned astir the information of situation officers and called for the Government to ‘get a grip’ earlier a unit subordinate is killed. 

Ms Cooper responded: ‘There is simply a situation successful our prisons that was created by the Conservative government, truthful the thought that we should instrumentality earnestly thing that immoderate of those erstwhile ministers accidental astir the situation strategy that they near successful full crisis…they truly request to instrumentality immoderate work and commencement apologising for it.’ 

The fig of assaults connected unit successful big prisons successful England and Wales has reached its highest level successful a decade, according to Ministry of Justice data. 

More than 10,000 assaults connected unit successful antheral and pistillate jails were recorded successful 2024, up from 9,204 successful 2023 and astir 3 times the 3,640 successful 2014. 

Chairman of the Prison Officers’ Association, Mark Fairhurst, called for ‘supermax’ facilities to location unsafe inmates similar Rudakubana and Abedi. 

‘For the astir violent, unsafe criminals who are intent connected committing atrocities and attacking staff, the clip has travel for power and containment,’ helium said. 

‘This cohort of prisoners should not bask the aforesaid privileges and freedoms arsenic those who bash conform. ‘Super-max is your basal entitlements thing more. 

‘You would beryllium cuffed each clip you are unlocked [from your cell] and escorted by 3 staff. The gym consists of a rowing instrumentality connected the landing. And determination are nary possessions allowed successful a compartment isolated from a vigor and a publication to read.’ 

The lone national supermax situation successful the US is ADX Florence successful Colorado, nicknamed the Alcatraz of the Rockies, and presently location to British terrorists including Abu Hamza and ISIS ‘Beatles’ Alex Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh. 

Former situation politician and extremism advisor Ian Acheson said determination was nary regularisation that mandated Rudakubana to beryllium allowed a kettle successful his cell. 

‘This process seems to person fallen isolated astatine HMP Belmarsh and different precocious information prisons wherever the rights of prisoners instrumentality precedence implicit information of unit and a naive presumption that giving them things including perchance lethal weapons volition appease them,’ helium added. 

‘The process wags the dog, and officers are hospitalised arsenic a consequence. It's nary wonderment caller officers articulation and permission specified a unsafe situation with expanding rapidity.’ 

Rudakubana was jailed for a minimum of 52 years successful January for the murders of 3 girls and attempted murders of 8 different children, people teacher Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes. 

The Sun reported that his situation supervision was downgraded successful caller weeks arsenic helium was antecedently successful a healthcare portion being monitored circular the clock. 

In effect to the emergence successful attacks, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood antecedently announced that the usage of tasers volition beryllium trialled successful prisons and confirmed the Prison Service volition behaviour a ‘snap review’ of the usage of protective assemblage armour for situation officers.