When I heard the news on Saturday that the jihadi terrorist Hashem Abedi used boiling oil and 'homemade weapons' in a brutal attack on three officers at HMP Frankland, I was not at all surprised. Even worse, as a former prisoner, I am convinced that he will attack again.

Abedi is the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber, sentenced to 55 years in jail for his role in planning the atrocity which killed 22 men, women and children attending an Ariana Grande concert in 2017. But clearly, prison hasn't made Abedi any less murderous.

In 2020, while jailed at HMP Belmarsh, he was held in its 'Separation Centre', designed to hold the most dangerous jihadist inmates apart from the rest of the prison population. Despite being in the highest security prison environment in the country, in May 2020 Abedi and two other terrorists conducted a vicious attack on Paul Edwards, a 57-year-old prison officer. The men set upon Edwards 'like a pack of animals', and then attacked another officer, Nick Barnett, when that brave man tried to help his colleague.

At his trial for that attack, Abedi seemed proud of himself, saying: 'I did assault that filthy pig, but I don't see any wrongdoing.' After being found guilty and sentenced to an extra 46 months in jail, Abedi was 'shipped out' to HMP Frankland, where he resided until Saturday's horrific attack. During his time at the Durham jail Abedi must have feigned compliance, until he was trusted. Then he took advantage of that trust to injure three officers.

During my 45-month sentence for fraud I met many prisoners serving much longer sentences than me. One, 'Ryan', spent years at HMP Belmarsh for a drug offence. I spoke to him today. He remembers meeting Abedi, and told me how the man drew his fingers across his throat as a threat. Ryan said: 'Abedi's only life now is prison. He'll never get out of high-security jails. He's got nothing to work towards and nothing to lose. He loves the notoriety as most Muslims look up to him.'

This chilled me.

Hashem Abedi used boiling oil and 'homemade weapons' in a brutal attack on three officers at HMP Frankland

Hashem Abedi, the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber, in Belmarsh Prison prior to storming the office of the custody manager in 2022

Although the general public tends to think badly of all prisoners, terrorists like Abedi are not like other inmates - most of whom will be horrified by Saturday's attack. The reality is that most prisoners want a quiet life, to serve their time with minimal fuss and then go home. Islamists, on the other hand, see themselves as soldiers, battling a system they hate. While a thief, a fraudster or a drug dealer can learn the error of their ways and change, jihadists are different.

Don't just take my word for it. In 2022 Jonathan Hill KC wrote a detailed report named 'Terrorism in Prisons' for the government. He described a culture in our jails - one that has existed for at least 15 years - in which groups of prisoners follow Islamist beliefs that encourage violence towards non-Muslim prisoners, prison officers and the general public. These men are not changed by prison - it merely makes it harder for them to kill those they deem enemies.

Yes, placing Abedi in a Separation Centre denied him access to the public and non-Muslim prisoners. Unfortunately, brave prison officers still have to work on these wings, unlocking the prisoners' doors, allowing them out for 'association' time with other inmates, for showers and for exercise. It is freedom like this that allowed Abedi to hospitalise three officers.

The Lord Chancellor, Shabana Mahmood, promised she 'will be pushing for the strongest possible punishment', but what does this actually mean in practice? Abedi is already serving a minimum of nearly 59 years in jail. A few more may be added on. He knows he's almost certainly going to die inside but, as my prison friend Ryan said, the monster will actually enjoy his greater notoriety.

And what will the system do with him? Of course, officers at Frankland won't want to deal with him. So the Prison Service has moved him back to HMP Belmarsh, where it's been reported he's using a 'spork' - a form of cutlery combining a spoon and a fork - to eat. Even though he's reportedly being held in a segregation cell, staff are naturally concerned.

He will be housed with a new small group of Islamist terrorists, and will no doubt feign compliance until another opportunity to do harm presents itself. Then, unless he is incapacitated, he will attack again.

David Shipley served a 45-month sentence for fraud

How do we prevent this? The Government has announced that prisoners in Separation Centres will no longer be allowed access to cooking facilities. Frankly it's baffling they ever were.

As someone who has seen the system close up, I suspect this was allowed because of what the Prison Officers Association (POA) calls a desire to 'appease' the most dangerous prisoners instead of controlling them. Jonathan Hall noticed something similar in 2022, saying that staff often felt a 'fear of discriminating against Muslim prisoners' and regarded Islam as a 'no-go area', passing responsibility to prison Imams instead.

According to its national chairman, Mark Fairhurst, the POA has been 'calling for several years' for staff to be issued with stab-proof vests, but that the Ministry of Justice has consistently said the protective gear 'looks too militaristic and might intimidate prisoners'.

I don't believe the POA's demand goes far enough. Stab vests wouldn't have protected the officer who on Saturday suffered a severed artery in his neck.

Terrorists like Abedi will always be a threat. It's only thanks to luck that he didn't kill an officer in his latest attack. We may not be so lucky next time.

We should create a separate prison for them, run along US 'Supermax' lines, where prisoners have almost no access to recreational activities and are shackled every time they leave their cell.

I spoke to Fairhurst about this and he agrees 'we need Supermax-style facilities…terrorists should be handcuffed every time they leave their cell'. He added: 'You cannot reform this evil. These prisoners need to be controlled.'

If the Government doesn't listen to him, then another attack is inevitable.