Prison officer attacked and held hostage by inmates

A prison officer was injured on Sunday after he was attacked and held hostage by three Muslim inmates at a maximum-security prison in Yorkshire.

The male prison officer suffered a broken cheekbone in the incident involving three male prisoners, two aged 25 and another aged 26, at HMP Full Sutton. A female prison officer was also injured trying to help her colleague and suffered cuts to her arm.

Both prison officers were taken to a local hospital to be treated but have since been discharged.

Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers Association (POA), said: “The POA are aware of the attack on two prison officers at HMP Full Sutton including a hostage incident”.

Mr Gillan refused to comment on the specific details of the incident “for fear of compromising any police investigation”. He did, however, commend the professionalism of the prison officers dealing with the incident, saying had it not been for their professionalism “the outcome could have been worse”.

The North-East Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) is now investigating the incident. 

A spokeswoman for the CTU said: “Inquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident. Given the potential nature of the incident and the range of skills and expertise within the North East CTU, the unit is leading the investigation at this time”.

The CTU have made it clear that none of the prisoners involved were serving sentences for terror-related offences.

Newspaper reports had incorrectly claimed that the ringleader was Islamist extremist, Parviz Khan, who is serving a life sentence for plotting to behead a British soldier. The Ministry of Justice have denied that this was the case.

Police and government officials have not been willing to discuss the motive for the attack.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice has said: “An incident involving three prisoners took place at HMP Full Sutton on May 26 from 4.25pm and was successfully resolved at 8.40pm after staff intervened. A police investigation is ongoing”.

This incident comes after the brutal murder of Drummer Lee Rigby last Wednesday in Woolwich. Rising tensions in the wake of the murder have led to violent protests, attacks on mosques and vandalism against war memorials.

Simon Wyatt