Concern over levels of prison violence

[20 August 2008]

A British prison is experiencing concerning levels of violence, with rising gang links and more convicted terrorists.

The HM Inspectorate of Prisons found serious incidents of prisoner-on-prisoner violence at Frankland Prison in Durham. The report found that HMP Frankland holds some 'extremely challenging prisoners', including those with gang affiliations, histories of extreme violence, some convicted terrorists, and prisoners convicted of serious sexual offences, including some with severe personality disorders. According to the report, black and minority prisoners felt 'especially unsafe'. Last year, convicted bomb plotter Omar Khyam threw boiling oil over a fellow inmate, claiming that other inmates were planning to attack him. In October, al-Quaeda inmate Dhiren Barot was seriously burned with oil, and in July, the cell of al-Quaeda terrorist Kamel Bourgass was set on fire.

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