Mark Fairhurst, national chairman of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA), said they will make the demand when they meet with Shabana Mahmood on Wednesday.
The meeting comes after Manchester Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi attacked guards at HMP Frankland in County Durham with hot oil and homemade weapons.
Abedi has since been transferred to Belmarsh prison, a high-security jail in south-east London.
Prison officers are asking for more protection after an attack at HMP Frankland saw four injured with hot cooking oil and handmade weapons (Image: Getty) “When we face life-threatening situations, we no longer have tactical options,” Mr Fairhurst told the BBC, saying officers needed more options if extendable batons and synthetic pepper spray fail to deal with a situation.
“We want specially trained staff on site who respond to incidents with the ability to deploy Taser to neutralise that threat.”
Of the staff at Frankland, he said “they are traumatised, they are fragile and they were angry” over the “appeasement” of very violent offenders.
He said that while strike action is banned for prison officers, there is health and safety legislation that could be considered.
Enough is enough: Open Letter from Manchester Arena Survivor Martin Hibbert to the Justice Secretary @ShabanaMahmood & @MoJGovUK
My name is Martin Hibbert. I am a survivor of the Manchester Arena bombing, the devastating act of terror that changed my life forever on 22nd May…
— Martin Hibbert (@MartinHibbert) April 15, 2025
“Everyone deserves to be safe at work,” he said.
The Prison Service said it will investigate whether frontline staff should be given protective body armour following Abedi’s attack earlier this month when four officers were injured.
Ministry of Justice to carry out review after prison attack
The Ministry of Justice has pledged to carry out a review following the incident, including access to kitchens in separation units in prisons, where the attack is believed to have taken place in Frankland.
Ms Mahmood said: “It is clear there are further questions to answer, and more that must be done.
“This will look into how this was able to happen, and what we must do to better protect our prison officers in the future.
“This review will look specifically at this attack, but also more widely at how separation centres are run.”
