Hasham Abedi, the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber, has been charged with five offences after four prison officers were injured at a maximum security prison
The brother of the Manchester Arena suicide bomber has been charged with attempted murder after four prison guards were attacked at high security HMP Frankland.
Counter terrorism police confirmed Hashem Abedi, aged 28, has been charged with five offences following the incident on April 12, 2025. They said the incident had been subject to a “thorough investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing North East, with support from Durham Constabulary and HMP Frankland. “
Their statement said the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has authorised charges against Abedi including three counts of Attempted Murder, one count of Assault occasioning Actual Bodily Harm and one count of Unauthorised Possession in Prison of a Knife or Offensive Weapon.
He will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Thursday, September 18.
It has been reported that prison officers had hot cooking oil thrown over them and three were stabbed using improvised blades at the County Durham jail.
The attack happened in the jail’s Separation Centre, which holds fewer than 10 inmates and is used to house prisoners regarded as the most dangerous and extremist.
Abedi was jailed for life in 2020 for helping his brother carry out the 2017 bombing, which killed 22 people at the end of an Ariana Grande concert. He was sentenced to a minimum of 55 years in jail.
With his brother, the suicide bomber Salman Abedi, Hashem Abedi planned and prepared the attack on the Ariana Grande concert in 2017. He was in Libya when the blast took place and was later extradited to the UK to face trial.
It emerged after the incident how inmates inside separation units were given access to cooking facilities. This access has since been suspended.
The officers were all taken to hospital after the incident which is believed to have involved boiling ‘butter or margarine’ and a ‘makeshift weapon’.
The incident led to growing calls for the introduction of stab-proof vests ‘as a minimum’ for prison officers.
There were 10,496 assaults against prison staff in England and Wales in the 12 months to September – a 19% rise on the previous year.
