From Yorkshire Post UK

PRISON authorities are under pressure to explain how two convicted killers were able to gain access to weapons as they staged a religiously-motivated uprising at a maximum security jail in Yorkshire.

Muslim inmates Feroz Khan, 26, and Fuad Awale, 26, tried to take over HMP Full Sutton, near York, days after an Iman offered his condolences to the family of murdered soldier Lee Rigby, the Old Bailey heard.

Two days after storming out of the prayer service, Khan, who was serving a life sentence for murder in his home city of Bradford, went to visit every Muslim prisoner in a bid to start an Islamic uprising.

The pair ambushed prison guard Richard Thompson, wrongly believing him to be ex-British military, and demanded the release of hate preacher Abu Qatada, the court heard.

Khan battered Mr Thompson, fracturing his eye socket before threatening to kill the guard, jurors heard. As Mr Thompson was pinned to his chair Awale pointed a sharp implement by his throat and said: “Stop struggling, I’ve killed two people – I’ll kill you”.

Mr Thompson told the court: “I saw Awale playing with the knives. At one stage he was rubbing the knives together, rather like someone who was preparing to carve up a Sunday roast.”

Khan, formerly of Cumberland Road in Bradford, smiled yesterday as he was convicted of making threats to kill and causing grievous bodily harm to Mr Thompson, who suffered a broken cheekbone and injured eye socket. The jury cleared him of false imprisonment and assaulting a second prison guard.

Awale, from Milton Keynes, was convicted of making threats to kill but cleared of false imprisonment. A third man, convicted killer David Watson, 27, from Hackney, east London was cleared of false imprisonment.

The defendants, , will be sentenced next week. Police say a search of laundry bags taken into the cleaning office where Mr Thompson was held for five hours revealed tin can lids, used as an improvised weapon, while homemade weapons and kitchen knives were also found.

Mark Milsom, the Association for Chief Police Officers lead for the North East Counter Terrorism Unit, said the attack four days after the murder of Lee Rigby last May was “unprovoked and pre-planned”.

He said: “Thankfully, Khan and Awale were prevented from carrying out their threats in full and prison staff escaped with serious, but not life-threatening, injuries.”

Glyn Travis, assistant secretary of the Prison Officers’ Association, said: “The Ministry of Justice must address the causation of these assaults and look towards the failings within the security system which have allowed such serious weapons to be either manufactured or concealed within a high security prison.”

Michael Spurr, chief executive officer of the National Offender Management Service, praised the guard and his colleagues and said: “This was a horrendous attack on a prison officer lawfully going about his daily duties.”

For more on this story go to: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/main-topics/general-news/warder-held-by-killers-in-bid-to-stir-yorkshire-jail-jihad-1-6532868