Police officer stabbed in the CHEST at UK’s most notorious prison HMP Frankland as cops detain man in his 60s
A POLICE officer has been stabbed in the chest at the UK's most notorious prison - dubbed Monster Mansion.
A man in his 60s has been detained after the horror unfolded at HMP Frankland at around 11am on Tuesday, Durham Police said.
The officer, who is from an outside force, was blue lighted to hospital in critical condition with a single stab wound to the chest.
In their latest update, the force confirmed he is no longer in critical condition.
Cops also revealed a man in his 60s has been detained and is set to be questioned.
Detective Chief Inspector Chris Smiles, who is leading the Durham Constabulary investigation, and said: "First and foremost, our thoughts are with our colleague, who suffered appalling injuries while simply doing his job.
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"Thankfully, his condition is no longer critical and we wish him a full and speedy recovery.
"We are liaising with the victim and his family and our investigation is ongoing."
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: "An officer from our Major Incident Team was stabbed by an inmate at HM Prison Frankland.
"He was transported to hospital in a critical condition, where he is being treated for his injuries. We have made the family aware of this incident and are supporting them through this incredibly difficult time."
The prison holds some of Britain's most infamous killers, and has been in operation for over 40 years.
Inmates at the 850-capacity jail include Ian Huntley, Levi Bellfield, Wayne Couzens and New York Stock Exchange bomb plotter Dhiren Barot.
It comes months after a prison officer was stabbed by a crazed inmate.
The guard was knifed repeatedly with an improvised weapon and another was punched in the face during the incident in January.
The inmate, understood to be a Muslim convert, was heard shouting “Allahu Akbar” — God is Greatest in Arabic.
Police had cells locked down for searches.
One officer was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, with another quickly discharged.
A source said at the time: “This was a pre-planned attack and the inmate had made a ‘shank’.
“He went up behind the officer on one of the wings and stabbed him several times, including in the neck.
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“They did well to subdue him so quickly. Even the cons were shocked and everyone was talking about how it was a terror attack — and they were surprised one had not happened before.
“There was also talk that the attacker had converted to Islam inside the jail.”