A prison officer whose ear was sliced off by a terrorist at work has been hospitalised after another inmate beat him with a kettle.
The guard is said to have suffered a severe concussion at Feltham Young Offenders Institution, Britain's most violent prison, just five months after Muslim convert Nathan Ruth, 18, sliced his ear off.
Ruth, a teenage terrorist, was convicted of plotting an attack at the Isle of Wight Festival and jailed for seven years in 2024.
The inmate who carried out the kettle attack, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is said to have assaulted another officer two months earlier.
A source told the Mail the teenager, who is prison for possessing a knife, assaulted another officer by stamping on his head and leaving him with a bleed on the brain.
The incident is said to have happened after the officer entered the prisoner's cell.
According to the source, the young man appeared calm at first, but when the guard approached the bed, he jumped up and began beating him with the kettle.
Colleagues have claimed that if he had been issued with pepper spray, the kettle attack could have been avoided.
PA
|The guard is said to have suffered a severe concussion in the incident at the Feltham Young Offenders Institution, Britain's most violent prison
In April, the Government signed off the use of the incapacitant "Pava" spray in young offenders' institutions, however it has not yet been fully rolled out.
The source added: "There has been resistance to providing us with Pava spray from various groups who have no idea what life inside a young offenders' institute is like, campaigning for the inmates because they are young.
"These are teenagers - but they are also rapists, murderers, and some are six foot four.
"We need the right protection or it is a matter of time before someone is dead."
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It is understood the inmate involved was taken to the separation unit following the attack, and a police referral has been made.
The source continued: "The bloke has been badly assaulted twice in a year and is getting no support from the service.
"He hasn't been back since the assault four weeks ago. His mental health is in bits - and he has since found out that his attacker has kept his television and can order what he wants from the canteen."
There have been a string of attacks on prison staff in recent months.
CPS/GREATER MANCHESTER POLICE
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In April, Axel Rudakubana, the Southport killer, used his kettle to boil water in his cell which he proceeded to throw over an officer at HMP Belmarsh.
Just weeks prior, Manchester bomber Hashem Abedi stabbed three prison officers with homemade weapons and poured hot cooking oil on them at HMP Frankland.
Another source reiterated the unfulfilled promise from April of receiving Pava spray for prison guards to better defend themselves.
They said: "Unless something changes soon - somebody is going to die.
"We are constantly told the MoJ takes staff assaults seriously - bit it's just words. It means nothing."
A spokesman from the Ministry of Justice said: "We take a zero-tolerance approach to violence and will always push for the strongest punishments for anyone found guilty of assaulting another young person or member of staff."
Pava spray will be issued to specially-trained staff at Feltham this summer.