Prison is rated as safe despite shocking attack

HMP Frankland is a “safe” place for staff and prisoners, a new report has found just a month after an attack by Manchester Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi.

- SOPHIE DOUGHTY

However, the health of both inmates and officers has been affected by spice “fumes” and there has been an increase in drones being spotted above the County Durham jail where 54 weapons were found in a year.

Abedi, brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi, threw hot cooking oil over three officers before stabbing them with “home-made weapons’ last month.

But HMP Frankland’s Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) has described the jail as a “generally safe environment,’ with its wings appearing “calm and settled” in its latest report.

All prisons are monitored by an IMB whose members pay regular visits and speak to prisoners and staff about conditions at the jail. The latest IMB report on HMP Frankland covers a period from December 1 2023 to November 2024.

The report highlights how weekly safety meetings are held at the prison to identify and deal with risks of self-harm and attacks.