Dangerous Islamist terrorists should be imprisoned on military base, says report
Prof Ian Acheson, a former prison governor who has advised the Government on extremism in prisons, has recommended that the risk to prison officers from violent ideologically driven terrorists was so 'lethal and proximate' that a new centre outside the prison estate was needed.
He said such a centre could not be located in high-security prisons because they were 'exposed to and unable to overcome' the threat from weapons and other contraband being brought in by drones.
'My recommendation is that this centre is purpose-built and located inside the military estate, where physical and human security is commensurate to the risks posed,' he said in his report, commissioned by the Tories.
'It should be entirely separate from the main prison estate and its ethos must be focused on the protection of national security and eliminating the physical threat to staff.'
Series of attacks on prison staff
His proposal follows an attack by Hashem Abedi, the Manchester Arena bomb plotter, on three officers in the high-security Frankland jail in County Durham last month.
Abedi, who is serving a life sentence, threw hot cooking oil over the officers and stabbed them with two makeshift knives he had fashioned from baking trays in the kitchen.
It also comes days after a prison officer at HMP Long Lartin was seriously injured when he was stabbed in an unprovoked attack by a violent inmate with a knife believed to have been flown into the high-security jail by drone.
The most influential and dangerous Islamist terrorists are currently held in separation units, of which there are three in prisons in England and Wales. The 'prisons within prisons' are designed to prevent them from radicalising other inmates and allow for closer supervision.
Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, has ordered a review of separation centres, which could see them expanded, and has also suspended prisoners' use of kitchen facilities within them after the Abedi attack.
Ms Mahmood has commissioned a review into issuing prison officers with stab vests and trialling Tasers in jails.
Threat from violent extremists 'intolerable'
In his report, seen by The Telegraph, Prof Acheson said: 'The current threat to front line prison staff posed by violent extremists and extremist adjacent offenders is intolerable and must be tackled urgently.
'The proximity of a murder of a prison officer on duty is closer and the consequence for rehabilitation, stability and the rule of law inside prisons is closer and more severe than at any time in the last 10 years.
'HM Prison and Probation Service does not have the capacity or capability or frequently the will to manage highly violent and ideologically motivated offenders using present approaches or structures.'
Prof Acheson said each prison holding terrorist prisoners should have a team of specialist armed officers on site ready to respond to any incident.
'They must be capable of being deployed at all times when prisoners are unlocked. This includes Taser, stun grenades, attenuated energy baton rounds and 'method of entry' equipment to breach doors and barricades,' he said.
He said these weapons were the 'baseline' but that 'serious consideration' must be given to constructing armouries at such prisons where guns could be stored and used as a last resort because police support could not be guaranteed in time 'where seconds can mean the difference between life and death'.
He said all prison officers should be issued with stab, slash and spike-resistant vests.
'There must be no delay in emergency procurement of this PPE to all staff working in the high security and long-term [prisoner] estate,' he said. 'The prospect of serious harm, not to mention litigation and recruitment/retention impact is not just imminent, it is already happening. There is simply no reason for further dithering on this vital and obvious improvement.
'Ministers must take personal charge of this objective backed by independent oversight by professionals who have demonstrated a track record in delivery under pressure. Stab vests have been 'under consideration' for officers revealed in a ministerial answer in 2013. The Director of Public Sector Prisons then is the same person who is now the interim chief executive.'
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