Terrorist attacks on prison staff now ‘absolutely inevitable’

An ex-prison governor and counter terror advisor has warned that further attacks on prison staff are ‘inevitable’ after the assault at Belmarsh.

Ian Acheson has warned that the ‘terrorist murder of a member of prison staff’ has so far been ‘avoided through sheer luck’. His message follows three convicted terrorists, including the Manchester Area attacker, being found found guilty of a ‘vicious attack’ on a prison officer at a highly secure unit in HMP Belmarsh, southeast London.

Acheson, who reviewed Islamist extremism in British jails in 2016, described deradicalisation efforts as ‘crude and generic’ and called for an overhaul of prison security. He said that the high security unit is ‘supposed to be our most extreme custody’, holding some of the most dangerous people in western Europe. He told The Independent that recent events, including an incident at HMP Whitemoor earlier in 2020, ‘ought to be a shocking wake up call for ministers’.