Terror prisoners cause £20,000 damage as they smash up cells

Nine convicts, most of them Muslim, caused £20,000 of damage and left an officer injured at top-security Frankland Prison, near Durham.

The convicts had been in the jail's segregation unit and are understood to have resisted when prison staff tried to move them back to their usual cells - demanding to be transferred to other prisons.

Frankland Prison, where an officer was injured as terrorist prisoners rioted

The protest turned violent at about 10.30pm on Sunday.

Prisoners smashed up their cells and wrecked furniture as 24 officers tried to deal with the outbreak and prison authorities called for back-up.

One officer was taken to hospital with ligament damage to his hand.

Last night, the inmates involved remained in the segregation unit, where they had been held since a brawl in late June.

In the fight on Friday, June 27, an inmate was slashed across the face with a suspected homemade knife, another was punched and kicked and a prison officer suffered a broken arm.

The June brawl, involving about 12 prisoners, happened hours after a fire broke out in a cell, thought to be that of al Qaeda terrorist Kamel Bourgass.

Reports claimed the fight was revenge for the fire, but a Frankland spokeswoman said there was no evidence to suggest a link.

Frankland is home to some of the country's most dangerous criminals and has seen a number of clashes between white and Muslim inmates over the past year.

Mudassar Arani, a lawyer representing al Qaeda terrorist Eesa Barot - scarred for life when boiling oil was poured over his head and body in Frankland - claimed the prison had a 'white supremacist' culture.

Sunday's incident comes at a time of heightened concern about conditions inside Britain's maximum-security jails.

In May, a report by the Prison Service's Directorate of High Security claimed prison officers were losing control of jails to Muslim gangs.

Prison officers at Frankland are said to be outraged at suggestions of racism in their ranks.

A new report on how Frankland's prison managers and officers deal with race relations inside its walls is expected to be published soon.