Michael Adebolajo, one of the two men accused of murdering Fusilier Lee Rigby, was attacked in Belmarsh prison, where he is locked up awaiting trail. “Michael Adebolajo, 28, is said to have lost two teeth during a violent confrontation at high-security Belmarsh prison.”

Police will interview all involved in the fight.

Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers Association, confirmed that Adebolajo had made allegations of assault – which he said were strongly denied. He said: “We believe the prison officers did a professional job on behalf of ordinary members of the public and we will be supporting our members involved in this incident.”

Adebolajo is accused of hacking up Lee Rigby on a London street near the army barracks. He proudly claimed responsibility for the murder in a video, his hands covered in blood. He was “well-known on the Islamic extremist scene in Britain and may have been stopped or arrested on his way to join the militant Islamist group Al Shabaab in Somalia in the past year.”