The penitentiary service will carry out a review of whether the armor of the protective body should be available for first -line personnel, said the Secretary of Justice.
Shabana Mahmood’s announcement occurs after Manchester Arena Hashem Abedi bomber threw hot oil to prison officers and stabbed them with improvised weapons in HMP Frankland on Saturday.
In a statement, Mahmood also said that together with a review by the Independent Ministry of Justice on the attack, he would now audit the implementation of previous review recommendations on extremism in the United Kingdom prisons.
On Wednesday, the Union of the Prison officers Association (POA) asked Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to strengthen the safety of its members.
The general secretary of the union, Steve Gillan, said he was writing to the prime minister on the subject, which would include the supply of stabs proof for staff.
An HMP Frankland prison officer, in Durham County, also requested that the stab vessels are avoidable, warning personnel could die unless security measures change urgently in all prisons in the United Kingdom.
Speaking to the BBC under anonymity, the prison officer said: “I think that the stabs would help us feel more secure and I do not get why they won those who give us.
“There must be an urgent change in security measures or someone goes to that.”
However, the rapid review of the prison service in the armor of the protective body will present its findings in the coming months and consult the unions.
From the attack, all the prisoners in the separation unit where Abedi was a hero in HMP Frankland was moved. Abedi himself has been transferred to London’s high security Belmarsh prison, while the other six prisoners have been transferred to HMP Woodhill, a source told the BBC.
The Government considered that the Government suspended access to kitchens in the separation centers from the United Kingdom, used to house a small number of inmates who are the most dangerous and extremist, after the incident.
“But it is clear that there are more questions to answer, and more than should be done,” Mahmood added.
Mahmood said it shows “very well the dangers of the deformed ideology of Islamist extremists” and added: “I will not tolerate it within our prisons.”
He added that he would also audit the realization of 230 recommendations of 19 reviews that analyze extremism in prisons in the last nine years.
“Wherever I find the opportunity to strengthen our defenders and better protect our staff and the public, I will,” Mahmood said.
Abedi planned and prepared the Manchester Arena attack in 2017 along with his brother, the suicide terrorist Salman Abedi. He was imprisoned for life with a minimum of 55 years in prison after being convicted of murdering 22 people.
He was transferred to a Frankland separation center after carrying out an earlier attack against prison officers in Belmarsh’s prison in 2020, so he added three years and 10 months to his sentence.
Four prison officers were injured during the incident on Saturday. A prison officer remains in the hospital with serious injuries.
