Ex Manchester prison officer, who was stabbed 17 times, worried someone is going to die
Questions about safety has been raised after Hashem Abedi, one of the men behind the Manchester Arena bombing, attacked officers at HMP Frankland
An ex-prison officer, who was stabbed 17 times whilst working at Strangeways, is worried it's only a matter of time until someone else is killed.
Questions about safety has been raised after Hashem Abedi, one of the men behind the Manchester Arena bombing, threw hot oil over officers at HMP Frankland - and stabbed them.
Four prison officers were injured at the jail in Durham, with three taken to hospital earlier this month.
The man who was attacked and wants to remain anonymous had to leave his job after many years: "I walked away after so many years because it wasn't for me, because I could have been that one person who could have lost their life.
"So many officers have walked away because of the lack of safety.
"I was attacked on numerous times. two quite severely where I had quite a bit of time off, and then the final one, where I was severely injured, which meant the end of my career.
"I had to make that decision 'was I coming home to my children, my grandchildren, my wife?'
"Eight months I sat inside and didn't go to work. I felt I wasn't good enough and I couldn't provide for my family and I was a failure.
"It took me a long time to come out of that and build myself back up mentally.
"I fear for all those friends and colleagues that I left behind."
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced the use of Tasers will be trialled in prisons and confirmed the prison service will conduct a "snap review" of the use of protective body armour for prison officers.
The ex-prison officer from HMP Manchester said they need to be brought in permanently: "The stab vests, yes I think they're a necessity, like with any PPE for anywhere, because somebody is going to get hurt.
"Everyone should have them, you know, protection, PPE, you know, a white shirt is not PPE."
He also said it has taken a huge scale case like Abedi for change to come: "The only reason this has hit big is because of the high profile of the prisoner.
"Why has it took a high profile case like this, for these officers to get the safety, or the trial."
A Ministry of Justice spokesman 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.
"But it is clear fundamental change is needed, which is why we're also reforming our jails so they create better citizens, not better criminals."
The Ministry of Justice also announced on Thursday that prison officers in public young offender institutions (YOIs) will start using synthetic pepper spray from this summer to combat rising violence from inmates.