Paedophile prisoners converting to Islam for ‘protection by Muslim gangs’, new report suggests

He said: "We're now seeing evidence that convicted sex offenders, who in the traditional prison hierarchy were at the bottom of the pile and had to be segregated from the rest of the population for fear that they would be killed by them.

"We're now seeing them walking openly in normal location because they've come under the protection of Muslim gangs."

Commissioned by Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick, the analysis found governors have "lost control" of their inmates as contraband flows into prisons - including mobile phones used to spread Islamist hate.

Acheson told GB News: "We've got about 230 terrorist offenders.

"We have a larger subset of prisoners deemed at risk of radicalisation and they're in very close proximity to more traditional organised crime.

"Where those two groups are together, it is absolutely rational to think they will cooperate in some way. Then you have a serious problem."

Staff have fallen into a "culture of appeasement" of the Islamist gangs, Acheson found, as attacks on prison officers increase.

The latest of which to hit the headlines being Southport killer Axel Rudakubana, who stands accused of having attacked a prison officer with boiling water from a kettle in his cell.

"Senior managers within different prisons are actually placing the rights of prisoners above the rights of prison staff to go to work in the morning and come home of a shift still whole and not via A&E," Acheson continued.

The former governor advocated for "separation centres" back in 2016 to isolate those who pose the highest risk to prison staff as well as inmates suspected of trying to radicalise prisoners, but felt they were "set up to fail" in their implementation.

Asked for his verdict, Acheson said: "I think there's more distance to travel on this, particularly when you get a very small number of people who are ideologically motivated, who want to kill for ideas, who I believe are still intent on killing for ideas, and have that capacity for high levels of violence, as well as the psychological mindset to try to subvert, undermine and radicalise others.

"I think there needs to be a different solution for them, and I think if we don't have that solution, I'm really sorry to say this, because it's chilling.

"I think the prospect of a prison officer being murdered on duty is closer than it's ever been."

Calling the threat "intolerable", Acheson told Jenrick some of Britain's highest security prisons had been found to have inactive CCTV and "missing" drone defences, meaning contraband can easily make its way inside.

The nightmare scenario would be "weapons, pistols and ammunition" getting to Islamist prisoners, Acheson worried.

"I'm thinking about that and worrying about it and considering it, you can be absolutely sure terrorists inside prison are as well."