Inmates who tried to murder prison officer in terror attack at HMP Whitemoor jailed for live

Ziamani, and Hockton have been jailed for life
Metropolitan Police
Rebecca Speare-Cole8 October 2020
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Two inmates have been jailed for life after attempting to murder a prison officer in an Islamist terror attack.

Brusthom Ziamani, 25, was jailed for 22 years after he was caught with a hammer and knife en route to behead a soldier in 2014.

While being held at HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire, Ziamani befriended radicalised Baz Hockton, 26, and the pair hatched a terror attack behind bars, the Old Bailey heard.

They made makeshift bladed weapons and fake suicide belts to launch a ferocious attack on officer Neil Trundle on January 9.

HMP Whitemoore
Google Maps

Two female staff members were hurt as they tried to stop the assault, with left Mr Trundle covered in blood.

The 25-year-old was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 21 years at the Old Bailey on Thursday.

Hockton, 26, was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 23 years.

Mrs Justice May said she was satisfied he was “inspired by extremist beliefs” and had a “terrorist connection”.

Ziamani was handed a life sentence with an minimum of 21 years
PA

She told him: “Your current twisted view of Islam needs to change.”

Ziamani, originally from Camberwell, south London, had denied attempted murder and an alternative of wounding with intent, but admitted assaulting the two women.

He claimed he wanted to be transferred because Whitemoor had become hostile to Muslims in the wake of former inmate Usman Khan’s attack at Fishmonger Hall.

Hockton, who has a long history of violence and possessing bladed articles, is three years into a 12-year jail term for stabbing and punching a man in October 2016 and slashing another the following month.

He was also sentenced to a concurrent 10-year term for wounding a prisoner with intent to cause grievous bodily harm at Swaleside prison, on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, in April last year.

The court heard how he slashed victim Tristan Walker with a weapon that was never recovered, leaving his victim with a scar.

Hockton, originally from Dagenham, who declined to give evidence, had denied attempted murder but admitted wounding with intent.

An Old Bailey jury deliberated for three hours and nine minutes to find them both guilty of attempted murder on Wednesday.

The court had heard the defendants had lured “kind and helpful” Mr Trundle to a store cupboard on the pretext of asking for a spoon.

They then set upon the officer, targeting his vulnerable head, upper chest and neck areas shouting “Allahu Akbar”.

Ziamani briefly broke off to punch nurse Jayle Cowles and prison officer Georgina Ibbotson before resuming the onslaught on Mr Trundle.

When another officer approached, Ziamani opened his jacket to expose the fake suicide belt, and said: “I’ve got a bomb.”

Meanwhile, Hockton was seen on graphic CCTV footage to charge at another officer before both inmates were restrained.

An examination of the fake suicide belts revealed one had been constructed with a battery and pressurised can and the other was made from boxer short elastic, electrical cable and plastic bottles.

Mr Trundle was left covered in blood, with blood on the walls around him, having suffered cuts to his scalp, arm and shoulder.

He denied there was any anti-Muslim feeling at Whitemoor over the deaths of two Cambridge students at Fishmonger Hall.

Giving evidence, Ziamani denied it was a terror attack, saying he only wanted to inflict some damage, like a bloody nose, to get sent to a different prison.

The two men did not react as the jury’s verdict was read out, but could be seen smiling as they were sent to the cells.

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