PRESSURE is mounting for a major review of the criminal justice system after a triple murderer was cleared of trying to kill prison officers.

Despite admitting stabbing three staff at Frankland Prison, near Durham City, Kevan Thakrar was cleared of all charges after claiming he had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) caused by alleged earlier beatings by officers at a prison in Milton Keynes.

Durham Police Deputy Chief Constable Mike Barton called the acquittal incomprehensible, unbelievable and flabbergasting.

He said it had put prison officers in an untenable position without reasonable protection.

“Like any right-minded member of the public, I am completely nonplussed,” he said, adding that talks had been held with Frankland’s governor about the case.

Darlington MP Jenny Chapman, Labour’s prisons spokeswoman, pledged to raise the issue with Justice Secretary Ken Clarke.

The Prison Officers’ Association (POA), which is considering funding a private prosecution of Thakrar, said officers were appalled and amazed, and said inmates had been given a green light to claim PTSD.

A spokesman said: “We are not getting the necessary protection.

We are not asking for special treatment – just the same as anyone else.

“The criminal justice system has let us down. It is a miscarriage of justice.

“If the system is going to act like this, our members will never get justice. If the Government aren’t going to protect our safety, we will.”

The POA, which said there were 2,800 assaults against officers last year, is seeking urgent talks with Mr Clarke.

The spokesman said: “Nobody seems to care. Enough is enough. Something needs to change.

“There needs to be a complete review of how the Crown Prosecution Service and Parliament view prison officers.”

Thakrar, 24, was serving at least 35 years for murdering three men and the attempted murder of two women in Hertfordshire in 2007.

Two of the officers he attacked with a broken bottle have been unable to return to work.

Any retrial would depend on new evidence coming to light or fault being found with the legal process.