BRAZENLY unsheathing two large machetes with a serrated edge, two young men point deadly weapons at their target, who cowers behind a window.
But this terrifying moment isn’t a scene of violence erupting on the streets – it was INSIDE the infamous Felton Prison, the deadliest lock-up in England and Wales.
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Two inmates brandish terrifying zombie knives in the over-18s part of Feltham PrisonCredit: Supplied
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Zahid Mubarek was murdered by his cellmateCredit: Enterprise News and Pictures
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His attacker Robert Stewart used a broken table leg to kill the 17-year-oldCredit: PA:Press Association
Shockingly, the footage showing two zombie knife-wielding lags, shot inside the West London Category C prison, is nothing compared to the terror that unfolds at its adjoining Young Offenders Institute (YOI).
That lock-up, which houses 15 to 18 years old, has a fearsome reputation and in the year up to March 2024, there were 343 weapons found and 410 violent incidents – making it six times worse than most violent adult prison, HMP Bradford.
This latest footage is no shock to Lennox Rodgers, founder of the Refocus Project, who has visited Feltham prison and the YOI multiple times to help rehabilitate former county lines gang members.
He tells The Sun: “It’s really sad to see, Feltham is in a state of lawlessness. Violence is so bad and it doesn’t seem like enough is being done and prison officers are powerless to cope with it all.
“If you can get zombie knives and machete-type weapons into a prison, it shows the state of affairs. You’ve practically lost control and the violence has to be off the scale.
“With a zombie knife, they want to kill, not hurt and anybody who gets in their way will die. One stab from a zombie knife and you’ve got a one per cent chance of survival.
“It really is such a serious weapon but it’s not my only fear. Soon they won’t be using zombie knives, they will be using guns and when that happens it will send shockwaves through the prison system.”
In an exclusive interview, former robber-turned-charity head Lennox gives a damning indictment of the Feltham Young Offenders Institute, known as Feltham A.
He tells us how deadly weapons are easily made in prison, how vile gang members trick inmates into debt to force them into sex, violent games and carrying out attacks and the brutal tactic warring gangs use to humiliate their rivals.
The statistics speak for themselves at Feltham. In the year up to March 2024, registered violent incidents soared by 77 per cent to 410 and incidents of disorder went up 300 per cent to 320.
Prisoner who had sex with female guard is violently attacked while holding baby in family visit – fracturing tot’s skull
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Robert Stewart was convicted of the murder of cell mate Zahid MubarekCredit: PA:Press Association
One teenager alone, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was responsible for a staggering 38 staff assaults in seven months and last May, dogs were introduced for guards’ protection.
And earlier this month, we reported how a 17-year-old Islamist, who was jailed for plotting a terror attack, sliced off the ear of one prison officer and stabbed 10 in one year.
Feltham staff also discovered 343 weapons, nearly one for every day of the year, which is a big jump from the 122 found in 2023 and use of force by staff went up 68 per cent.
Terrifying new threat
Zombie knives are just one of the many horrifying threats but according to Lennox, the worst is yet to come, as he fears a new tidal wave of terror will be unleashed behind bars when GUNS become prisoners’ new weapon of choice.
“You’re looking at a drone drop, them being thrown over the wall or a corrupt officer getting them in,” he tells us.
“Prisoners involved in gangs can afford to pay £1,000 for a bottle of £11 alcohol to be smuggled in, so money is no object to them.
“Prison officers are afraid of the increase in drone drops and say not enough is being done. They are terrified that a prison will get a gun in which will be a game changer.
“They have told me, ‘If a prisoner holds a gun to my head I’ll do anything they ask because I don’t want to die’. If they ask for the keys they will give them.
They put the two razor blades close together because when they slice someone’s face, it makes it impossible to stitch up and will leave a permanent scar.
Lennox Rodgers
“The small guns, which are being sold online, can cause serious harm if you hold it up to someone’s head. It’s not a case of if they get in prison, it’s when because it’s already on the cards.”
Lennox said that even prisoners are “terrified” at the thought of going to Feltham because of its reputation, noting that they know there is “a lot of gang violence there”.
Socks, sugar & soap weapons
The Independent Monitoring Board report into Feltham A found that there has been “a rise in the use of improvised weapons” including plugs in socks and a “three-on-one assault with a weapon made out of a screw attached to a pencil”.
But according to Lennox, those methods are the tip of the iceberg as ‘resourceful’ lags will create homemade weapons out of anything including water and sugar.
“They have kettles, so they will boil water and empty a whole kilogram of sugar into it and then throw the contents into someone’s face,” he tells us.
“It sticks to the face and when you touch your face your skin comes off. It’s horrific. Then while that’s happening they are being attacked with weapons.
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Offenders are allegedly getting access to drugs including spiceCredit: Alamy
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One dishevelled room in Feltham Young Offenders InstituteCredit: HMP Feltham Chief Inspector Of Prisons
“It’s very severe and extremely painful. I saw it happen once when I was in prison and heard the man’s screams after. It’s life-changing for that person.”
That, Lennox insists, is “one of the most common forms of attack” but it isn’t the only weapon “accessible to everyone” in prison.
He tells us: “They wrap soap bars in towels, used to use batteries or pool balls in socks. With plugs in socks, you need to have about half a dozen to cause damage.
“They get table legs and parts of outer wooden furniture, sharpen plastic knives to the point they could cut your throat really badly and use toilet brushes or toothbrushes with razor blades attached to them.
“They put the two razor blades close together because when they slice someone’s face it makes it impossible to stitch up and will leave a permanent scar.
“My clients have seen people in prison with knives, which are around six inches, and makeshift knives. They have them because they will kill if they need to.
If you get into debt, owing them money or drugs, they don’t want it back. They want you to work the debt instead.
Lennox Rodgers
“There’s an increase in corruption in officer ranks now, especially with those who have relationships with prisoners who bring in phones, weapons and drugs. Prisons are in a really bad state of affairs.”
Gang games
Gang warfare is a big concern in Feltham, Lennox explains, and as soon as prisoners are brought in, they are asked if they are affiliated with any crews so they can assign them to units without any of their rivals.
But many, he says, won’t disclose it, fearing the information will be misused, they will be treated differently by officers or that they won’t be put in units with gang mates.
Lennox also claims that prisoners who work in reception serve as moles for gangs and leak information about a person’s crimes and the gangs they are involved with.
“There’s a constant fear and threat of violence,” he says. “My clients have been involved in gangs so are constantly having to look over their shoulders.
“They have a matrix of all the gangs and prisoners involved in them. They try to avoid putting prisoners in units where they are at risk of attack. Other gang members may assault them.”
Rivals are known as “opps” – a shortening of opponents – and according to Lennox, Feltham is such “a horrible place to go” that even seasoned gang members are “terrified” of being sent there
To avoid this, some will “try to do something really bad to get removed” and relocated to another prison or try to land themselves in the punishment unit, which is known as ‘the block’.
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Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel visit Feltham with then Justice Secretary Dominic Raab in 2022Credit: PA
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It’s feared drones could be used to drop in knives, drugs, guns and mobilesCredit: HMP Feltham Chief Inspector Of Prisons
This can lead to terrifying attacks on staff and fellow inmates. Others become reacquainted with old criminal contacts for protection, perks and to pass the time.
“There’s a lot of bullying, a lot of self-harm and there’s a lot of gang issues that involve drugs,” Lennox says.
“If you get into debt, owing them money or drugs, they don’t want it back. They want you to work the debt instead.”
Lags are then made to clean cells, iron clothes and, in more brutal cases, will be severely sexually assaulted.
“Young people, especially in gangs, want to humiliate other gang members and will make them do stuff like that,” says Lennox.
“There’s also been a lot of deaths in prison because they can get spice and some, who have control and power over other prisoners, force them to take spice to watch how they react.
Staff have been attacked with hot water and sugar, faeces and urine and it’s really hard for them.
Lennox Rodgers
“They play games with them like, getting them to take turns punching each other in the face to see who can knock each other down. It’s all alcohol and drug-fuelled.”
‘Spice is rife’
Others take drugs like spice, a dangerous synthetic cannabis, to “get off their faces because it passes the time quicker” and it’s a “big thing at Feltham”, Lennox tells us.
He says: “With spice, which is a big issue in Feltham, there are mental health issues that come with it too.
“Inmates try to spike prison officers with it and last year, one officer had to go to hospital because he was so affected by the spice after walking into a call where a prisoner had been smoking it.”
Many of the gangs have multiple ‘runners’ who do their bidding including distributing drugs and carrying out attacks. Those serving longer terms “don’t care about the consequences”.
“They will stab and kill you, it’s very serious violence,” Lennox says. “Gang leaders won’t get their hands dirty, they’ll get their runners to do it for them.
“Young people’s prisons have a horrendous reputation for drugs and violence but you see more of it in Feltham because it’s got so much violence, the gang violence is crazy.
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The cell where Zahid was violently stabbed to death by StewartCredit: Photo News Ltd
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Amin and Sajida Mubarek (left and middle), the parents of murdered teen ZahidCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd
Historically there have been murders at Feltham. In 2000, Zahid Mubarek, 17, was stabbed to death, while he slept.
His cellmate Robert Stewart, who was later diagnosed as a psychopath, used a wooden table leg that had been sharpened into a dagger. His family alledge it was a racist attack.
The victim was due to be released later that day after serving a 90 day sentence for shoplifting just £6 worth of goods.
Officers ‘spiked’
While there have been killings of that type in recent years, attacks continue to be on the rise and so frequent that teens are taught in classes based on who they won’t fight with rather than their academic abilities.
One insider previously told us: “The danger is it feeds the sort of grandiosity that some of these kids might have about themselves, that ‘I’m the big man and I can’t mix with anybody.’”
And according to Lennox, some officers – who he warns are increasingly at risk of being corrupted due to low pay and poor vetting – may even be enabling it.
“While there is overcrowding, some officers, if they want harm to come to a particular prisoner, may put them in a cell with someone who will beat the s*** out of them,” he says.
“Prison officers have always found ways to get their own back. They may unlock someone’s cell knowing someone they have beef with is on the landing. No soon as they walk away, they will walk into the cell and fight them.
Feltham’s terrifying reputation in numbers
By Josh Saunders
NOTORIOUS Feltham Young Offenders Institute has a fearsome reputation – plagued by drugs, gangs and violence.
And last year, a report gave true and terrifying insight into why it’s known as the most dangerous prison in England and Wales.
Here we reveal some of the worrying numbers, which spanned the year up to March 2024:
- 320 incidents of disorder, up 300 per cent
- 343 weapons found, compared with 122 previously
- 68 per cent rise in the use of force by staff, in response to violence
- 410 incidents of violence, compared with 182 previously
At the time, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The criminal justice system is in crisis and as this report clearly shows, this is placing great strain on the youth estate.
“As the chief inspector recognises in his report, the governor and frontline staff are now making every effort to drive improvements and reduce violence.
“But we know there is much more to do and we are committed to increasing the support these children need to turn their lives around.”
“When I was in prison, one officer offered me tobacco in exchange for a list of prisoners who I would ‘take care of’ for them by attacking them. I told them to fight their own battles.
“Some of my clients have talked about violence being bad there and injustices with officers attacking prisoners. Prisoners do horrible things to officers and at Feltham there will have been some who have got their own back
“It’s something that has happened across the board and is only a small minority group of prison officers.”
Faeces & urine attacks
There are a number of problems highlighted by Lennox, who admits he does feel sorry for prison officers due to what they have to go through.
He says: “Staff have been attacked with hot water and sugar, faeces and urine and it’s really hard for them. It’s not like things used to be in the 80s when they had more in place to protect and perks of the jobs, a lot of staff have decided to leave and that’s really sad.”
One resolution to curb the violence, Lennox suggests, is allowing people like him into prisons to try to deal with the youngsters, many of whom have been affiliated with gangs for years.
He runs the Refocus Project works to help and rehabilitate those involved in county lines, roughly around 3,500 per year, many of whom become entrapped and groomed by the cruel groups, who force them into modern-day slavery.
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Lennox Rodgers, of the Refocus Project, has rehabilitated hundred of former young gang membersCredit: Louis Wood
Lennox tells us at one prison he was given access to a whole unit of gang members and in exchange for signing a contract where they vowed not to fight one another, they would have access to extra perks.
“They would get extra family visits, more time out of their cells and perks like that, that model was working but things changed for the prison meaning they couldn’t continue it.
“There are ways to stamp out some of this violence but short staffing numbers won’t help. So many staff leave because they feel like they can’t make a difference any more and the attacks on staff have been horrendous.”
Lennox fears guns finding their way into prison is the next major threat facing overworked and underpaid prison officers. He predicts it could lead to a mass exodus and crisis in prisons.
He says: “Each new wave of up-and-coming criminals come up with new and violent ways to deal with things and while zombie knives are shocking, soon they will get guns.
“When that happens it will send a shockwave through the prison system and government, they will have to change laws very quickly and spend a lot of money on prison officers and on the prisons.
“If they don’t do something about this soon prisoners will feel they can get away with it and that is a very scary thought.”
The Sun put the claims to the Ministry of Justice, who referred us to statistics from their latest inspection of Feltham A last year, which found 92 per cent of children reported feeling “safe” there.
They added that a new dedicated Head of Integrated Care had been introduced and the Enhanced Support Unit had been reopened, which will provide “additional focus on supporting the most vulnerable children”.
A spokesperson added: “Frontline staff at Feltham are clamping down on violence but we know there is more to do.
“We are committed to tackling drugs and violence and improving safety for the staff and young offenders at the site over the coming months.”
For more information and support visit: refocusproject.org.uk.