How eight lifers turned HMP Whitemoor into a 10-hour war zone

Shower gel and shampoo might not be the most advanced weaponry, but they were the primary tools used by a group of murderers to take control of a high-security prison wing.

For 10 hours, the killers took over part of the maximum security HMP Whitemoor, fashioning their own riot gear and laying booby traps for guards.

An elite national response team had to be deployed to the Cambridgeshire jail when the inmates refused to return to their cells after lunch.

They sprayed oil, shower gel and shampoo on the floor of the landing corridor making it too slippery for officers to enter.

They overturned furniture and created a barricade at the top of a staircase.

By 8pm, the group, using makeshift helmets to shield themselves from Pava spray and pyrotechnic flashes, then armed themselves with broken table legs and kettles.

They staged a defiant standoff throughout the afternoon of October 2022 before retreating to the cell of one of the group, Korie Hassan.

There they barricaded themselves in for a last stand before control was regained at around 10pm when the prisoners were restrained.

All eight of them have now been given extra jail time at Cambridge Crown Court after the last sentence was passed on February 20.

The sentences were:

• Rick-Champion Champion Musaba, 30, sentenced to an additional four years for participating in a prison mutiny
• Nicholas Bridge, 26, and Irwin Constable, 25, both received three years and six months for the same charge
• Korie Hassan, 33, was handed three years and four months after admitting violent disorder
• Dior Diego Jackson, 27, received one year and nine months
• Bradley Blundell, 26, and Troy Muschett-Thomas, 25, were both given 18-month extensions
• Jahliel Rose, 29, was sentenced to one year and four months

All their sentences will be served on top of their existing life sentences.

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