Pictured with his wife on Snapchat: inmate stabbed to death inside Wormwood scrubs jail

Relatives of Khader Ahmed Saleh hit out at prison bosses saying "he should have been safe"
Benedict Moore-Bridger1 February 2018
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

The family of a prisoner stabbed to death inside Wormwood Scrubs today said: “He should have been safe.”

Khader Ahmed Saleh, 25, was found dead in another inmate’s cell with multiple knife wounds yesterday afternoon. Four inmates have been arrested on suspicion of murder.

The father-of-one was being held ahead of his sentencing next month for drugs offences.

He moved to the UK 13 years ago from Somalia with his mother Amina Dualeh, three older brothers and sister, and lived in Tower Hamlets with his wife Salma Hassan, 20, and their two-year-old son.

Victim Khader Ahmed Saleh pictured with his son Ahmed, 2

Mrs Dualeh, 58, said: “I cannot believe his life has been taken while inside a prison. It is unacceptable. I have lost my son and he is never coming back. Who has the responsibility? I am so sad.”

Mrs Hassan said: “It is appalling. He should have been safe in the prison. Officers should be held accountable.”

His uncle, Duale Yusuf, a Somali community activist, said Mr Saleh had been targeted by a gang inside the prison.

Four inmates have been arrested in connection with the death of Saleh

He said: “This tragedy has touched our hearts and the family are broken. We are devastated. He was a very kind person. A nice, quiet person. This is heartbreaking for the family.”

The family said they are planning to organise a protest outside the jail.

An inmate was stabbed to death at Wormwood Scrubs
Nigel Howard

The incident comes a month after an inspection report revealed “high levels of serious violence” and chronic staff shortages at the Category B prison.

Extra security measures were introduced after 90 reported assaults on staff in the previous six months.

A Prison Service spokesman said today: “Our sincere condolences are with the family of Mr Saleh.

“Since the last inspection, HMP Wormwood Scrubs has taken decisive action to reduce violence, conducting a full review of safety and security at the prison.

“The prison has now introduced body-worn cameras, additional CCTV and patrol dogs, and will be recruiting 120 extra officers to further improve safety.

“We are working with the police on their investigation and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”

A spokesman for the CPS said Mr Saleh was being held on remand while awaiting sentencing at the Old Bailey next month after pleading guilty to two counts of supplying class A drugs.

National figures published last week revealed a 25-year high in violence behind bars, with 28,165 incidents in the 12 months to September.

Three of the 295 deaths in prison custody in 2017 were murders.

In October 2016 HMP Pentonville inmate Jamal Mahmoud, 21, was stabbed to death and two others were injured in an attack at the north London.

Two men aged 21, a 20-year-old and a 23-year-old man, who are all prisoners at the jail, have been arrested on suspicion of murder.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT