A survivor of the Manchester Arena bombing has accused Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood of a “catastrophic failure” after Hashem Abedi attacked three prison officers. Martin Hibbert, who was left paralysed in the 2017 atrocity, condemned the Justice Secretary in a furious open letter.

He was responding to an incident at HMP Frankland in which Abedi doused staff with boiling oil and used homemade weapons. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said it will carry out a review following the attack at the high-security prison in County Durham on Saturday. In response, the MoJ has suspended access to kitchens in separation and close supervision units, where inmates are kept apart from the general population.

In his letter to Ms Mahmood and the MoJ, posted on social media, Mr Hibbert said: “Let’s call this what it is: a catastrophic failure of your duty to protect prison staff and the public from an unrepentant terrorist.”

“Not only was Abedi allowed the freedom to move around and use facilities that should never be available to someone like him – he was able to track and target three prison guards using boiling oil and homemade weapons.”

Mr Hibbert suffered life-changing injuries at the Ariana Grande concert in May 2017, where he was left with a spinal cord injury. His daughter Eve suffered severe brain damage in the attack, which killed 22 people.

He said: “I was told justice would be served. What I see now is not justice. It’s a shameful lack of accountability and basic prison security.

“I’m not just angry. I’m broken by this. And I am furious that the pain of survivors like me is being so blatantly disrespected by your inaction.”

He called for Abedi to be stripped of access to any areas where he could make or find weapons.

“This cannot continue. Something drastic needs to be done. Not tomorrow. Not next month. Now,” he said. “Because right now, it feels like you’ve forgotten us.”

His comments follow a separate letter reportedly sent to Ms Mahmood by the families of five of the victims – Megan Hurley, Eilidh MacLeod, Chloe Rutherford, Liam Curry, and Kelly Brewster – expressing “absolute disbelief” at the attack.

According to the BBC, the letter said: “In our view, he should not be allowed any privileges whatsoever while serving a sentence for the deaths of 22 innocent lives and the injuring of many more.

“He should not have access to anything that he can weaponise, such as hot oil or items he can turn into blades.”

The families have called for Abedi to be placed in permanent solitary confinement.

Abedi was convicted of planning and preparing the Manchester bombing alongside his brother, the suicide bomber Salman Abedi. He was extradited from Libya and sentenced in 2020 to a minimum of 55 years for 22 counts of murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to cause an explosion likely to endanger life.

Express.co.uk has approached Ms Mahmood via the Ministry of Justice for comment.