Police have been engaged in a dramatic stand-off on the roof of an infamous jail – with a prisoner wearing just his underpants. A trio of officers in riot gear as well as a negotiator were dealing with the incident at HMP Frankland in County Durham last night (June 21).
Staff were “urgently” working on getting the inmate, pictured holding what’s suspected to be a crowbar, down, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has confirmed.
A Prison service spokesperson said last night: “Staff are urgently working to bring the prisoner down safely.”
The Mirror confirmed that negotiations were still ongoing at 10pm.
Images taken by Chronicle Live show a man laying on the roof of the prison wearing just his underpants and black trainers as he negotiated with officers below.
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The intense showdown can also be seen in footage taken by the publication.
Details of the nature of the protest are yet to be confirmed thus far.
Pictures show the man carrying what appears to be a crowbar as he sits on the building roof.
Category A, Category A High Risk and Category B adult males are held at the high-security prison, which is located in the village of Brasside in County Durham.
Over 800 prisoners reside at the jail which has been nicknamed “Monster Mansion” due to many of its inmates being convicted murderers, high-risk sex offenders and those convicted of terrorism-related offences.
It was reported in April that prisoners there, where killers Ian Huntley, Levi Bellfield and Wayne Couzens are housed, were getting phones installed in their cells.
Some called it a “terrible” idea and said the scheme could be “abused”.
