Manchester Arena bomb plotter charged with attack on prison guards

The brother of the man who carried out the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing has been charged with attempting to murder three prison officers and assaulting a fourth.

Hashem Abedi, who was jailed for a minimum of 55 years in 2020 for helping to plan the suicide bombing, is accused of attacking the four guards at high-security HMP Frankland on 11 April.

The 28-year-old, who had been housed in a separation unit at the County Durham jail at the time, also faces a fifth charge of unauthorised possession of a knife.

He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 18 September.

Counter Terrorism Policing North East said the charges followed a "thorough investigation" alongside Durham Constabulary and prison authorities.

Three prison officers were taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Abedi was moved from HMP Frankland after the alleged attack, which was said at the time to have involved makeshift knives and cooking oil.

The Ministry of Justice previously said there would be a full, independent review into the incident, which prompted criticism from survivors and the families of victims of the bombing.

His older brother Salman Abedi killed 22 people and injured more than 1,000 by detonating a home-made device hidden in a rucksack as a concert by the singer Ariana Grande came to an end on 22 May 2017.