A survivor of the Manchester Arena bombing has said that the alleged assault on prison officers by one of the brothers behind the 2017 terrorist attack signified a “catastrophic failure of duty” to protect prison staff.
Hashem Abedi, who helped his suicide bomber brother, Salman Abedi, to plan the attack at an Ariana Grande concert, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 55 years after being convicted of the murder of 22 people, as well as attempted murder, and conspiracy to cause an explosion likely to endanger life.
Last week, he allegedly attacked three prison officers at HMP Frankland in County Durham, where he was being housed on a separation unit with other extremist prisoners.
Abedi has now been moved to high-security HMP Belmarsh in London, according to the BBC. He set upon the three officers with hot cooking oil and improvised blades, with one sustaining a severed artery, and another a punctured lung.
In an open letter to the justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), one of the Arena bombing survivors, Martin Hibbert, said he was “absolutely disgusted – beyond words” upon hearing about the attack.
The MoJ has suspended access to kitchens for prisoners in separation and close supervision units, and said it will carry out a review after the incident.
“Let’s call this what it is: a catastrophic failure of your duty to protect prison staff and the public from an unrepentant terrorist,” Hibbert wrote in the letter posted on social media.
“Not only was Abedi allowed the freedom to move around and use facilities that should never be available to someone like him, he was able to track and target three prison guards using boiling oil and homemade weapons.”
Hibbert suffered a life-changing spinal cord injury in the attack, while his daughter Eve also suffered severe brain damage.
“I was told justice would be served,” he wrote. “What I see now is not justice. It’s a shameful lack of accountability and basic prison security. I’m not just angry. I’m broken by this. And I am furious that the pain of survivors like me is being so blatantly disrespected by your inaction.”
He called for Abedi to be denied access to any areas in prison where he could find or make weapons. “This cannot continue. Something drastic needs to be done. Not tomorrow. Not next month. Now,” he wrote. “Because right now, it feels like you’ve forgotten us.”
Families of five of the victims of the bombing – Megan Hurley, Eilidh MacLeod, Chloe Rutherford, Liam Curry and Kelly Brewster – have also written to the justice secretary expressing “absolute disbelief” at the attack, and calling for Abedi to be put into permanent solitary confinement.
According to the BBC, a letter from the families read: “In our view, he should not be allowed any privileges whatsoever while serving a sentence for the deaths of 22 innocent lives and the injuring of many more.
“He should not have access to anything that he can weaponise, such as hot oil or items he can turn into blades.”
