HMP Manchester prisoner Stuart Horner ends roof protest

Stuart Horner was brought down by cherry picker at 03:00 BST

A convicted murderer ended his rooftop protest at a prison in Manchester after more than 60 hours on Wednesday

Stuart Horner, 35, was brought down by cherry picker at HMP Manchester at 03:00 BST following long negotiations.

He said he was protesting against what he described as poor conditions at the jail, formerly known as Strangeways.

The Prison Service said 60 inmates had been transferred to other jails on Tuesday as a result of damage caused by Horner, who had smashed windows.

He caused damage that will cost thousands of pounds to repair by pulling up metal roof trusses at the Victorian jail and using them to smash a series of large skylight windows and attack CCTV security cameras.

Horner, from Wythenshawe in Manchester, got on to the roof on Sunday afternoon after scaling an 18ft (5.5m) fence.

He was jailed for life in 2012 for the murder of his uncle during a family feud.

Over the three days, members of the public congregated outside the prison and held "party protests" in the middle of the street.

People danced to music and others left messages to prisoners on a sheet.

The Prison Officers' Association said it did not condone the protest but it had highlighted the extent of frustration inside the prison at poor conditions caused by staffing shortfalls.

The jail was extensively rebuilt after the 25-day Strangeways riot in 1990, in which two people died and hundreds were injured.