THE brother of the Manchester Arena bomber allegedly knifed three prison guards today, leaving a female officer fighting for her life.
Hashem Abedi, 28, was said to have been bundled to the ground by riot squad officers after the attack.
Sources said he was preparing food in a kitchen at HMP Frankland, dubbed ‘Monster Mansion’, when he began his rampage by throwing hot oil on two officers.
Abedi, the brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman, was being housed on a prison wing housing mostly Muslim inmates including terrorists.
The attacker is said to have produced two huge homemade weapons – blades said to have been 20 cms long – and slashed at the duo plus a third officer.
One of the guards was stabbed in the neck once and another officer was stabbed five times in the back, the source said.
read more uk news
The alleged knifeman, who was caged in 2020 for helping his older brother to plan the 2017 atrocity – was “subdued” by prison officers who raced to the scene of the bloodbath.
Abedi – serving 55 years for his role in the arena bombing that killed 22 and injured hundreds – was slammed into a segregation cell.
Police are investigating the attack and counter-terror forces could be called in to the jail in County Durham.
A ‘Tornado team’ of riot squad officers then stormed into the jail’s E-wing after the horror amid fears of further attacks while inmates on all of the prison’s wings were placed on lockdown.
Most read in The Sun
Police and medics raced to the scene, with air ambulance crews landing on the prison’s grounds.
The response included an ambulance Hazardous Area Response Team – specially trained to deal with dangerous situations and hazardous materials.
Today, one officer – believed to be the female – was understood to be in a critical condition.
A source said: “It was horrific and a total bloodbath.
“There were even fears this was a terror attack and that hazardous materials could be in play.
“But it seems to have been carried out by just one inmate.
“The attacker was being supervised by the officers and he suddenly turned on them launching a ferocious assault.
“The officers who rushed to help were really shaken afterwards and will need counselling.
“One said he had never seen as much blood as this in his life.
“The attacker used improvised weapons he had made in the jail, and they had huge blades.
“This is a really savage attack and the fact that a female officer is one of those targeted makes it all the more shocking.
“There were screams ringing out and blood everywhere with alarms going off.
“There was a massive response, with specialist teams in riot gear going round all the wings.
“The wing where it happened is full of Islamist prisoners and there are Muslim gangs in there.
“Most of the prison officers do not like going onto the wing and there is a violent and intimidating atmosphere in there.
“This officers were just going about their jobs and doing her duties and for this to happen is truly horrendous.”
One source said suspected attacker Abedi had previously been quiet” and “kept himself to himself”.
Abedi was found guilty by a jury in March 2020 of 22 counts of murder, one count of attempted murder encompassing the injured survivors, and conspiring to cause explosions.
His trial followed a lengthy extradition process that saw his arrest by authorities in Libya.
The Old Bailey heard Manchester-born Abedi was “just as guilty” as his brother, who detonated the bomb at the end of an Ariana Grande concert.
Jurors heard that the Islamic extremist assisted Salman with building the bomb.
Yesterday’s horrific attack comes amid fears about rising violence against staff and inmates in prisons.
Latest statistics show there were almost 27,000 assaults on inmates and staff in 2023. The figure had jumped from 28 per cent on the previous year.
Experts fear staffing cuts – and a lack of experienced prison officers – have added to problems in jails.
High-security Frankland is dubbed Monster Mansion because of the fiends it houses.
The Category A jail is home to killers including Levi Bellfield, Ian Huntley and ex-cop Wayne Couzens.
It also holds Islamist inmates including terrorist Dhiren Barot and Nazi nail bomber David Copeland.
A prisoner was charged with attempted after a Greater Manchester Police officer was stabbed in the chest on a visit to Frankland last July.
The police officer suffered critical injuries but survived the attack after hospital treatment.
A spokesman for North-East Ambulance Service said: “We were called at 10.50 am on 12 April to attend an incident at HM Prison Frankland in County Durham.
“We dispatched two paramedic ambulance crews, a doctor in a rapid response vehicle, the air ambulance with a second doctor, a specialist paramedic, a Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) crew and a duty officer.
Read More on The Sun
“We treated three patients before conveying all to hospital by road. Two of the patients were accompanied by a doctor.”
The Ministry of Justice was contacted for comment.
