Prison officer's car torched in arson attack at Salford jail

A prison officer's car was torched outside a prison in Salford. Arsonists got into the staff car park at HMP Forest Bank in Agecroft to set fire to the vehicle. It was the latest in a number of attacks on staff cars.

Greater Manchester Police confirmed they were alerted at around 11pm and that the incident was being treated as the deliberate setting on fire of a car. A force helicopter was used during the incident in a bid to spot the culprits.

An HMP Forest Bank spokesperson said: “We can confirm an incident occurred on 15 November 2023. While a police investigation is underway, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

The incident is the latest in a series of attacks on vehicles belonging to prison officers at the jail. In October last year vandals damaged three cars which followed a similar wrecking spree in July 2022 when another three cars were vandalised.

In December 2019 two prison guards' cars were 'petrol-bombed' at Forest Bank in what was described as a 'targeted attack'. In that incident two men on a motorbike rode into the staff car park of the Salford jail and torched the cars. The car park is protected by a barrier, but accessible to the members of the public on foot.

At the time a source said: "It's a targeted attack. Sometime the cons will turn round and say 'Right, your car's getting blown up', if you don't give them what they want."

In July 2021 two prison officers were targeted by three men in an attack of ‘retribution’ at HMP Forest Bank. As the two officers finished their shift at the prison they walked across the car park separately before being subjected to the terrifying assault.

One officer was attacked with a baseball bat and the other had to jump out of the way to avoid being struck by