A POLICE officer has been stabbed in the chest at the UK’s most notorious prison dubbed Monster Mansion.
The incident occurred at HMP Frankland this morning, Durham Police said.
The officer, who is from an outside force, was injured just after 11am on Tuesday.
He was taken to hospital and is said to be conscious and talking.
In a statement, a Durham Police spokesman said: “Shortly after 11am this morning, Durham Constabulary were called to an incident at HMP Frankland in Durham City.
“A police officer, who was visiting the facility from an outside force, suffered a stab wound to the chest during the incident.
“The injured officer has been taken to hospital by ambulance, where he is described as being ‘conscious and talking’.”
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.
“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.”
