Overview

• Axel Rudakubana, serving a 52-year minimum sentence for the murders of three young girls, allegedly threw boiling water at a prison officer on May 8 at HMP Belmarsh.
• The officer was treated for minor injuries at Queen Elizabeth Hospital and is expected to resume work next week.
• Authorities are investigating how Rudakubana accessed boiling water, with questions raised about procedural lapses in maximum-security prisons.
• The incident follows a similar attack last month by Manchester Arena bomber Hashem Abedi, intensifying calls for stricter containment measures for high-risk inmates.
• Prison unions and experts are advocating for US-style supermax facilities and enhanced protective protocols to address the rise in assaults on staff.