Three men have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after prison officers were ambushed as they left work.
A gang, armed with baseball bats, attacked two prison officers when they walked out of HMP Forest Bank in Salford.
One officer was struck on the arm and the attackers tried to mow down the second with a car after crashing it through a barrier.
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The windows of the prison's visitors centre were smashed during the attack.
In a statement Greater Manchester Police said: "Three men have been arrested on suspicion of attempt murder, attempt section 18 and criminal damage this morning (5 August 2021). They remain in custody at this time."
It is understood all three suspects are in their 20s.
The incident happened two weeks ago but details have only emerged now.
The Manchester Evening News understands that one line of inquiry is that the attack may have been "revenge" for an inmate being moved out of the prison after allegedly assaulting a female prison officer, who was knocked out.
A spokesperson for HMP Forest Bank said: "An incident occurred outside HMP Forest Bank on Tuesday 20th July where two prison officers were attacked by masked men. A member of staff did sustain an injury from the attack and the incident has been referred to Greater Manchester Police."
In a statement Greater Manchester Police said: "Police were called shortly after 8pm on Tuesday 20 July 2021 to reports of a disturbance at HMP Forest Bank.
"Enquiries have established that three people arrived at the prison in a dark coloured car before alighting the vehicle and attacking a staff member with a baseball bat.
"The offenders then attempted to run over a second member of staff, using the car, before driving through the barrier and causing extensive damage to the visitors' entrance.
"The member of staff who was attacked with the baseball bat was taken to hospital with an arm injury. He has since been discharged.
"No arrests have been made and enquiries remain ongoing."
Anyone with information should contact police on 0161 856 5194, quoting incident number 2744 of 20/07/21.
Alternatively reports can be made to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
One prison source said: "The two officers had finished their shift and walked out of the visitors centre where they are based. One got hit with a baseball bat and the other managed to jump out of the way as they drove a car at him. There is only a little barrier there at the car park and the men just drove right through it.
"It looks like the gang attacked the first two officers that appeared at random."
As reported in the Manchester Evening News, the Director of HMP Forest Bank, Matt Spencer, has quit after the government gave the management 45 days to improve its performance or risk losing the contract.
The privately run prison is managed by Sodexo Justice Services and the contract is until 2025.
In November last year, a prison officer was the target of an horrific attack.
The victim had a mix of boiling water and sugar poured over them in and attack known as "napalming".
They required hospital treatment for burns.
In the same month masked men on motorbikes torched a car outside the main entrance of the prison.
In November 2019 an armed 'kidnap' gang got the wrong man when they ambushed a taxi outside the prison.
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