Anjem Choudhary faces being despatched to ‘jail inside a jail’

Anjem Choudhary faces years living alone in a 8ft by 5ft cell inside a ‘jail within a jail’ reserved for the most radical and dangerous terrorists. 

The hate preacher, 57, who is facing a life sentence after being found guilty of directing terror group Al-Muhajiroun, is likely to be kept in a specialist ‘separation centre’ – where he will be banned from speaking to any regular prisoners.

Tenuously likened by critics to the Camp X-Ray detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, they include cells with sound-blocking glass ‘bafflers’ to prevent their highly dangerous residents from radicalising inmates on other wings.

There are currently two of the facilities in operation at high-security prisons HMP Frankland in County Durham and HMP Full Sutton in Yorkshire, both housing roughly nine prisoners each. 

Ian Acheson, who called for the creation of separation centres in a 2016 review of Islamic extremism in prisons, told MailOnline he expects Choudhary to first be moved into a segregation unit pending an assessment with input from MI5. 

The former prison governor said Choudhary ‘absolutely qualifies’ as the kind of inmate who should be kept in a separation centre and expects that he will be. 

The facility at HMP Frankland – dubbed ‘Monster Mansion’ due to the many convicted murderers, rapists and terrorists imprisoned there – was said in 2021 to contain Hashem Abedi, the Manchester Arena bomb plotter.

Frankland is also thought to house Lee Rigby‘s killer Michael Adebolajo, who he has been accused of helping to radicalise, but it is not clear if he is housed in the separation centre.  

The facility is located along a narrow corridor, described by inspectors as ‘small and cramped’, lined by cells containing a single bed, a thin blue mattress, a toilet, a sink and a wooden table. 

Phone calls are monitored by a team of expert staff, while daily exercise takes place in a small 15ft by 25ft yard caged yard with a covered roof to prevent any attempt at escape by helicopter. 

Inmates can also be accompanied to the main prison gym.

While the facility is stark, it is meticulously clean and conditions are far from harsh.

Prisoners can order ingredients and cook their own meals in a separate food prep area using plastic utensils that must be booked out and returned clean after use.

There is also a TV room featuring a pool table and bookshelf, which during a 2022 visit by the Mail included fantasy novel, Soul Of The Fire by Terry Goodkind, a number of books by Ted Dekker, who has written Christian mystery thrillers, and the non-fiction work Tea With Hezbollah, about his attempts to better understand the Middle East.

The terrorists enjoy the same benefits as regular inmates, including fortnightly visits and CDs or games consoles for those with privileges. Psychologists and imams regularly visit in an effort to push them away from violent extremism.

Inmates can mix with each other on the wing but are allowed no access to the rest of the population, which at Frankland is believed to include Ian Huntley, Wayne Couzens and Levi Bellfield.

Prisoners are allowed one hour and 45 minutes out of their cells from Monday to Thursday and longer if they agreed to take part in education, according to an official inspection in 2022. 

This increased to three hours on Fridays and five on weekends, and anyone wanting to exercise could be accompanied to the main prison gym. 

Mr Acheson said the main purpose behind separation centres was to restrict any communication that encourages terrorism. 

‘I expect that there will be intensive surveillance of prisoners at all times using physical and human security that will be equal to if not more than restrictions placed on exceptional risk Category A prisoners who aren’t in prison for terrorism connected offences,’ he said. 

‘Letters will be monitored and visitors will be tightly vetted. Movements on and off the units will be severely limited and a multi-disciplinary team will constantly manage risk.

A police officer was left in a fatal condition after being stabbed in the chest at the prison on Monday, although on Wednesday he was said to be stable. 

‘If Choudary goes to Frankland – and that’s not certain – the Governor will already be dealing with what looks like a serious breach of security,’ Mr Acheson said. 

‘Wherever he goes he has demonstrated an unrepentant desire to spread hate and foment violence against the state. The risk has moved from the community to the prison system. 

‘We must do all we can to ensure his ”rock star” reputation amongst other jihadis cannot mobilise more young men to violence.’

Charlie Taylor, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, said in a 2022 inspection that the separation centre at Frankland was ‘well maintained’ and reported there had been no incidents of self harm in the year before his visit. 

He added that there had been one recorded act of violence at one of the centres since they were introduced – a serious assault against a member of staff. 

There were originally three centres with capacity for 28 inmates but the one at HMP Woodhill is currently closed.

The Ministry of Justice refused to confirm how many are currently being housed in the centres ‘for security reasons’, although when Mr Taylor visited Frankland it housed nine people. 

Choudhary is facing life in jail after he was found guilty of directing a terrorist organisation following an unprecedented joint investigation by MI5, Scotland Yard, the NYPD and Canadian police.

He was released early from a five-year sentence for inviting support for ISIS in October 2018 but his licence conditions prevented him from using the internet until July 2021.

Within days of the conditions expiring, he began issuing press releases on WhatsApp and Telegram promoting the proscribed terror group Al-Muhajiroun.

In a year he delivered more than 40 lectures, some to a small, selected circle but others with an audience of up to 150 from as far away as Brazil and Afghanistan.

Choudary has been linked to numerous terrorists including Khuram Butt, the leader of the London Bridge attacks

During his trial Choudary admitted that he had performed Michael Adebolajo’s wedding ceremony and had been present when he converted to Islam.