AN inmate at a top-security jail has been charged with attempting to kill two prison officers and seriously wounding a third.

Convicted killer Kevan Thakrar is accused of stabbing three officers at Frankland Prison, near Durham City, on March 13, leaving two in hospital.

The officers, including a female prison guard, were taken to hospital after Thakrar, 23, allegedly attacked them with a broken vinegar bottle.

It is believed they were opening his cell door shortly before 9am, after he barricaded himself in for nearly 24 hours in an attempt to be moved into segregation with his brother, Miran Thakrar.

Prison officer Craig Wylde lost the use of his left hand as a result of the incident and may never work again.

Yesterday, a Durham Police spokeswoman said: “Kevan Thakrar has been charged with two offences of attempted murder and one section 18 assault (causing grievous bodily harm with intent).”

Thakrar, from Stevenage, in Hertfordshire, is serving a minimum 35-year prison sentence, along with his brother, Miran, for blasting three men to death with a submachinegun, over a £10,000 drugs debt.

The Kevan Thakrar incident came eight days before Soham child killer Ian Huntley had his throat slashed in Frankland by armed robber Damien Fowkes. Huntley was taken to hospital for treatment.

In 2007, terrorist Dherin Barot suffered burns when another inmate poured boiling liquid over him, and in 2008 another terrorist prisoner, Kamel Bourgass, was set on fire.

However, governor Dave Thompson insists Frankland is safe and such incidents are rare.

Meanwhile, Clifton Jeter, a 32-year-old inmate at Frankland, has been charged with assaulting Neville Sparrow and Vernon O’Connell, causing them actual bodily harm.

Jeter appeared via videolink before Peterlee magistrates yesterday. The case was committed to Durham Crown Court.