Prison officers call for provision of electric stun guns at dangerous jails

Prison officers will demand the immediate issue of electric stun guns to protect staff guarding Britain's most dangerous jails when they meet the justice secretary this week.

- Vikram Dodd

Wednesday's meeting with Shabana Mahmood was called after an attack on three guards at HMP Frankland, allegedly by the convicted terrorist Hashem Abedi.

Two were seriously injured after being doused in hot cooking fat and stabbed, one five times in the torso, in a sustained assault.

The body representing prison officers will call for all staff to have stab vests, and also for Tasers to be issued to selected officers. It will also demand that an American "Supermax"-style regime is imposed on Britain's worst inmates.

The Prison Officers Association (POA) wants Tasers issued to specialist teams in at least the highest-security prisons, to quell attacks that threaten the lives of officers.

The devices fire 50,000 volts to incapacitate a suspect, and are billed as a less lethal option than firearms, though some uses have been linked to deaths.

Abedi, 28, the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber Salman, is serving a 55-year sentence.

The attack on the three officers happened in a kitchen area of the separation unit of HMP Frankland.