The use of Tasers in prisons will be trialled after guards were injured by the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber, the justice secretary has said.
The Prison Officers’ Association (POA) had called for guards to have access to electric stun guns in light of Hashem Abedi’s use of makeshift weapons to attack staff at HMP Frankland, a high-security prison in County Durham.
Shabana Mahmood told the Commons on Tuesday: “Wherever we can strengthen our defences, to better protect our staff and the public, we will do so.”
However, POA chairman Mark Fairhurst told the BBC he did not believe a trial was necessary and called for their use to be rolled out “before one of my members is murdered”.
Three guards received hospital treatment after the attack on 12 April. One remains in hospital in a stable condition, while two others have since been discharged.
At the time of the attack Abedi was held in a separation wing used to house the most dangerous and extremist prisoners.
However, he had access to a kitchen, where he was able to heat cooking oil and fashion weapons from equipment which he used to assault the guards.
Following calls for urgent action to keep prison staff safer, Mahmood confirmed HM Prison and Probation service would begin a trial on the use of electric stun guns, though did not provide further details about its scope or duration.
She said a separate independent review into the attack would “ascertain how this incident was able to happen, what more must be done to protect prison staff and, more widely, how separation centres are run”.
Mahmood has previously ordered a “snap review” into the use of protective body armour for prison staff.
She paid tribute to the “bravery of the officers involved that day”, which she said “undoubtedly saved lives”.
Mr Fairhurst, who is due to meet the justice secretary on Wednesday, said the attack had been a clear indication that officers faced urgent danger, and disputed the need for a trial period before allowing prison staff access to electric stun guns.
“The police force has used this equipment for years, we know it’s effective,” he said.
Mr Fairhurst said the equipment should be rolled out in all high-security facilities and used by specially trained staff. He continued: “If not, our lives are on the line.”
Currently, prison officers are only able to carry an extendable baton and synthetic pepper spray.
Abedi, who helped his older brother Salman plan the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, was jailed for life with a minimum 55 years in prison after being convicted of murdering 22 people.
He had been moved to Frankland after carrying out an earlier attack on prison officers in London’s Belmarsh prison in 2020, for which three years and 10 months was added to his sentence.
Following the latest attack on staff, he was moved again to Belmarsh.
