The inmate who was stabbed to death at Pentonville Prison has been named as 21-year-old father Jamal Mahmoud.
Mr Mahmoud was killed at the Caledonian Road jail on Tuesday afternoon. Two prisoners, aged 26 and 34, have been arrested on suspicion of his murder.
Mr Mahmoud was jailed for six years and six months in July. He was one of two gang members sentenced after hiding a loaded Skorpion machine gun and ammunition in a garden in Enfield the previous July. He was already serving five-and-a-half years in prison for a separate robbery.
His sister Souzan, speaking on behalf of her mother Hawa, said: “For her to get a phone call that her son had died in prison is just devastating.
“I blame the prison more than the actual person that done it. They owed him a duty of care and they just neglected him. She’s worried about my other brother who is also in prison.”
Danny Rynne, a scaffolder from Enfield who had just completed a stretch at Pentonville, described Mr Mahmoud as “lovely” and “placid”.
He said: “He’s got a girlfriend who’s just had a baby that was born two weeks ago. It’s a shame what happened. I don’t know too much about what it’s about but it’s a shock to everyone.
“He’s a small fella and proper placid. He wouldn’t say boo to no one unless somebody started on him.”
It comes as the Prison Officers Association called for an inquiry into the state of UK jails. Pentonville, built in 1842, holds 1,200 men. Recent inspection reports have made grim claims of violence, drug abuse and squalor.
A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: “The Secretary of State has been clear that safety in prisons is fundamental to the proper functioning of our justice system and a vital part of our reform plans.
“We are fully committed to addressing the significant increase in violence, self-harm and self-inflicted deaths in our prisons.”
Two other prisoners, aged 21 and 30, were also stabbed in Tuesday’s incident. They are in a “critical but stable” condition in hospital, a Met spokesman said this morning.
Additional reporting by PA
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