Extremist inmates moved to 'prison within a prison' at HMP Frankland

Extremist inmates moved to 'prison within a prison' at HMP Frankland Lee Rigby murderer Michael Adebolajo and extremist preacher Anjem Choudary could be among those moved to three isolation centres.

Image: The new centre was one of the main recommendations of a review. File pic

Dangerous extremist prisoners have been moved to a "prison within a prison" to stop them influencing fellow inmates.

Convicts suspected of planning terrorism or posing a risk to national security are now housed in a separate centre within HMP Frankland in Durham.

Two other separation centres will be created within high-security jails, with the three quarantines holding up to 28 of the most-radicalised offenders in the country.

Lee Rigby murderer Michael Adebolajo and extremist preacher Anjem Choudary could be among them.

Image: Adebolajo was said to be 'brainwashing' fellow inmates in HMP Frankland

Others who spread views that might incite others to commit terrorist offences, or who are undermining security in jails, could also be moved to one of the facilities.


Prisons minister Sam Gyimah said the isolation centres were "an absolutely crucial element of our wider strategy to tackle extremism in prisons and ensure the safety of the wider public."

The Ministry of Justice declined to comment on which prisoners would be shifted to the facilities.

Last month, Adebolajo was said to be "brainwashing" fellow inmates in HMP Frankland.

Image: Extremist preacher Anjem Choudary could be among those shifted to a quarantine

The terrorist was described as spending "most of his waking hours preaching his distorted form of Islam to anyone who will listen", according to the Daily Mirror.

The new centre at HMP Frankland was one of the main recommendations of a review which found evidence of "charismatic" prisoners acting as "self-styled emirs" to radicalise other inmates.

It also suggested that "cultural sensitivity" among staff towards Muslim prisoners could "inhibit the effective confrontation of extremist views".

The new isolation centres will be used to target all forms of extremism in jails, including Islamist and extreme far-right ideologies.

Figures indicate that authorities are managing more than 1,000 inmates who have been identified as extremist or vulnerable to extremism at any one time.