A survivor of the Manchester bomb attack has branded terrorist Hashem Abedi’s attack on prison officers a “catastrophic failure” of duty by the Justice Secretary.
Abedi hospitalised three guards after violently attacking them with boiling fat and homemade weapons in the kitchen area at HMP Frankland, County Durham. In an open letter to Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and the MoJ, survivor Martin Hibbert said he was “absolutely disgusted – beyond words” to hear about the attack. He wrote: “Let’s call this what it is: a catastrophic failure of your duty to protect prison staff and the public from an unrepentant terrorist,” he 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.”
Mr Hibbert suffered life-changing injuries at the Ariana Grande concert in May 2017 where he was left with a spinal cord injury. His daughter Eve suffered severe brain damage in the attack, which killed 22 people.
He said: “I was told justice would be served. What I see now is not justice. It’s a shameful lack of accountability and basic prison security.”
The MoJ said it will carry out a review following the attack on Saturday. It has suspended access to kitchens in separation and close supervision units, where inmates are kept apart from the general prison population.
Mr Hibbert added: “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 – who has been moved to London’s high security Belmarsh prison – to be stripped of access to any areas where he could make or find weapons: “This cannot continue. Something drastic needs to be done. Not tomorrow. Not next month. Now. Because right now, it feels like you’ve forgotten us.”
His comments come after families of five of the victims – Megan Hurley, Eilidh Macleod, Chloe Rutherford, Liam Curry, and Kelly Brewster – wrote to the Justice Secretary expressing “absolute disbelief” at the attack.
Their letter 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.”
The families have called for Abedi – who was spotted grinning before the kitchen attack – to be put in permanent solitary confinement.
Abedi planned and prepared the attack with his brother, the suicide bomber Salman Abedi. He was extradited from Libya to the UK where in 20202 he was sentenced to a record 55-year minimum term. He was convicted of 22 counts of murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to cause an explosion likely to endanger life.
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