Ian Huntley attack: Frankland Prison staff's calls ignored

Mar 23 2010 by Sophie Doughty, The Journal

THE slash attack on Soham murderer Ian Huntley at a North East jail could have been prevented if prison bosses had listened to staffs calls to search all inmates for weapons, union leaders said yesterday.

Officers at Frankland Jail, in Durham, have spent the last week asking for all cells to be searched, following a glass attack on three wardens, last Saturday.

But their requests were refused by Governor David Thompson, who is now facing a vote of no confidence from his staff.

Huntley, who is serving two life sentences for the murder of 10-year-old schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman was rushed to hospital after a fellow inmate cut his throat with a makeshift knife on Sunday afternoon.

He was transported back to the jail yesterday. The attack came just eight days after three prison officers were stabbed and slashed with a shard of glass by a triple-murderer serving his sentence at the high-security jail.

Colin Moses, chairman of the Prison Officers Association, said Frankland staff had asked for all inmates to be searched for weapons in the wake of last weeks attack.

The staff have been asking all last week for the prison to be locked down and searched for weapons and that wasnt done, he said.

They have been asking for this since the attack last week and that was refused.

Huntley, 36, had surgery for the wound to his throat last night, but has since been returned to prison.

Meanwhile, prison officer Craig Wylde is still recovering in hospital after inmate Kevan Thakrar allegedly used glass from a vinegar bottle to cut the 28-year-old so badly he may lose the use of his arm.

Two other officers, a man and a woman were also injured in the attack earlier this month.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) said: Violence in prisons is not tolerated in any form. A prison lock-down and search is entirely an operational matter for the Governor, who would assess all the evidence including intelligence as to whether such action was necessary for the safety of staff and prisoners.