Demand for ‘super-max’ prisons for worst inmates

Britain’s most dangerous prisoners should be kept in US-style “super-max” conditions with no contact with other inmates and no kettles or cooking facilities, according to the head of the prison officers’ union.

The demand came after Axel Rudakubana, the Southport killer, is alleged to have thrown boiling water at a prison guard at HMP Belmarsh, southwest London, which is meant to be one of the country’s most secure jails.

Rudakubana, 18, who murdered three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last July, was jailed for a minimum of 52 years in January. He is suspected of boiling the water in a kettle in his cell and flinging it at the officer through the door’s hatch. The guard was treated in hospital and discharged.

The incident is alleged to have happened on Thursday, less than a month after Hashem Abedi, 28, the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber, seriously injured three prison officers with hot oil and makeshift knives at HMP Frankland, in Co Durham, another category A jail.

Mark Fairhurst, national chairman of the Prison Officers’ Association, which represents rank and file staff, said: “The authorities need to act before there is a tragedy. We are calling for super-max facilities in prisons based on the American model.

“For the most violent, dangerous criminals who are intent on committing atrocities and attacking staff, the time has come for control and containment. This cohort of prisoners should not enjoy the same privileges and freedoms as those who do conform.”

What super-max means

In practice, “super-max” conditions would lock the worst inmates in their cells for 23 hours a day and ban them from associating with any other prisoners when allowed out for exercise.

“Super-max is your basic entitlements — nothing more,” Fairhurst said. “You would be cuffed every time you are unlocked [from your cell] and escorted by three staff. The gym consists of a rowing machine on the landing. And there are no possessions allowed in a cell apart from a radio and book to read.”

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The only federally run super-max prison in the United States is ADX Florence in Colorado, nicknamed the Alcatraz of the Rockies.

Its inmates include a string of British terrorists, including Abu Hamza, the hook-handed preacher from Finsbury Park mosque, north London; Richard Reid, the airline shoe-bomber; and the “Isis Beatles”, Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh.

Their movements are strictly controlled and additional penalties or monitoring, known as special administrative measures, are imposed if they break any rules.

In Britain, many of the most violent inmates are still allowed privileges, such as kettles and televisions in their cells.

In HMP Frankland, Abedi was being held in a separation centre, described as a jail within jail, when he carried out his attack last month. The unit has its own cooking facilities, which have since been suspended, and five other extremist inmates had been allowed to visit the main prison gym together when Abedi struck.

“Access to cooking facilities and kettles should be based on the risk the prisoner poses to staff,” Fairhurst said.

Tasers and stab vests on the cards

However, Tom Wheatley, president of the Prison Governors’ Association, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday that it was “lower risk” to allow inmates to boil water in their rooms. The alternative would mean staff bringing hot water to cells, risking even more attacks on prison wings, he said.

Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, recently announced that Tasers would be trialled in prisons later this year. A “snap review” would also decide whether frontline staff should be issued with stab-proof vests.

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The Ministry of Justice said: “We will do whatever we can to protect our hardworking staff. The lord chancellor has announced a review into protective body armour and a trial of Tasers in jails to better respond to serious incidents.

“It is clear fundamental change is needed, which is why we’re also reforming our jails so they create better citizens, not better criminals.”

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