Prisoners who ‘attacked officer wearing fake suicide vests’ in high-security jail appear in court

Two inmates accused of attempting to murder prison officer with improvised weapons

The 458-capacity HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire (Google Maps)

Two prisoners accused of launching an attack inside a high-security jail while wearing fake suicide vests have appeared in court.

Brusthom Ziamani, 24, and Baz Macaulay Hockton, 26, have been charged with the attempted murder of a prison officer at HMP Whitemoor.

Mr Ziamani is also accused of actual bodily harm and assault relating to two other prison officers who intervened in the alleged attack on 9 January.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that the pair isolated the first prison officer, Neil Trundle, by asking him to bring a spoon into a segregation area at around 8am.

They then knocked him to the ground and repeatedly assaulted him, the court was told.

Two female officers, Georgina Ibbotson and Jayne Cowles, were allegedly punched in the face by Mr Ziamani as they tried to help the victim.

The court heard that the defendants were found to have three improvised prison shanks, including a piece of sharpened plastic and two pieces of metal with handles made out of cloth.

They were also allegedly wearing fake suicide vests.

The defendants embraced when they met in the dock, flanked by a number of officers from the Metropolitan Police.

Both gave their nationalities as British at a short hearing on Wednesday, where they were not asked to enter pleas.

Mr Ziamani and Mr Hockton were remanded into custody by chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot to appear at the Old Bailey on 8 April.

Additional reporting by PA