Arena bomb plotter turns back on prison deradicalisation plan

THE terrorist who plotted the Manchester Arena bomb attack that killed 22 people is refusing to participate in any deradicalisation programmes in prison, a documentary has claimed.

Hashem Abedi is understood to be one of five extremists held in a separation centre at HMP Frankland, near Durham, where he is rejecting any attempt to rehabilitate him.

The wing – one of only two in the country – is reserved for the most “subversive” prisoners in an attempt to stop them radicalising other inmates.

Abedi was jailed for at least 55 years in Aug 2020 after helping his brother, Salman, plan the May 2017 suicide bombing. Richard Vipond, a prisoner offender manager, who monitors and engages with prisoners in anti-terrorism programmes, told ITV: “One particular person I was working with, we opened his cell door and he said, ‘I’m not going talk to you, you’re an enemy of Islam, you’re an Islamophobe, you’re my enemy’.

“There are some people that are so entrenched in their views, in their ideologies and their beliefs that we just become a holding centre for them.”

Neither the prison nor the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) revealed who the five men in the “prison within a prison” were, but there are 25 Terrorism Act prisoners at HMP Frankland.

ITV said the MOJ granted a film crew access to HMP Frankland and HMP Full Sutton in E Yorks, to provide an insight into how they attempt to deal with, categorise and deradicalise prisoners.

A Prison Service spokesman said: “Our approach to managing extremists is recognised internationally and involves a range of tools, including tailored interventions.

“Some of our most subversive prisoners are placed in separation centres. We have trained nearly 40,000 officers to spot the signs of extremism, and increased the number of specialist counter-terrorism staff.

“We have also ended the automatic early release of terrorists, and our new laws mean they will face tougher sentences and monitoring on release.”