Firebomb bid by prisoners to be segregated

A firebomb found inside a Northern Ireland jail today is believed to be part of a campaign by loyalist and republican paramilitaries bidding to be segregated.

Amid increasing tensions inside Maghaberry Prison near Lisburn, Co Antrim, army explosives experts were called in to defuse the incendiary device.

It had been posted into the high-security complex, which houses some of Northern Ireland’s most dangerous terrorists and criminals – many of whom are desperate to be kept apart.

Prison Service chief Peter Russell claimed the attack could have killed warders or inmates.

He said: “If it had not been for the vigilance of staff this could well have ended up with someone seriously injured or worse.

“To indiscriminately attack men and women providing an essential service to the community for simply doing their job is despicable.”

Last month bullets and a detonator were discovered inside an ironing board at the jail, causing prison visits to be cancelled for days while a major security operation was carried out.

Finlay Spratt, chairman of the Prison Officers’ Association, said his members were working in a climate of fear.

He added: “They are always vulnerable because these things will continue to happen.

“It got through the system but was eventually picked up. This just shows what prison officers face.”