A convicted murderer serving a life sentence behind bars has been killed by another prisoner inside a high-security jail.
It is the second breach in recent days to occur inside a British prison, after Hashem Abedi, the Manchester Arena terrorist, allegedly attacked three members of prison staff in Category A jail HMP Frankland.
John Mansfield, 63, was imprisoned in 2007 for the brutal murder of his 63-year-old neighbour Ann Alfanso, who he stabbed almost 100 times at her home in Manchester.
He received a second life sentence in 2014 after stabbing another inmate with a broken plate in a row during cooking chores.
Mansfield, who has 75 previous convictions, died after being attacked inside HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire on Sunday, 13 April. A 44-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of murder.
The incident allegedly occurred inside the prison’s close supervision centre.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “Police are investigating the death of prisoner John Mansfield at HMP Whitemoor on Sunday 13 April. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”
According to a report in The Mirror, Mansfield had approached fellow inmate, rapist John Orme, in his cell and stabbed him seven times during the 2014 incident.
He was warned he was unlikely to ever be released, with the judge branding him a “violent and very dangerous man who poses a considerable threat to the public”.
The Ministry of Justice has said it will carry out a review following reports that Manchester bomb plotter Abedi attacked three prison officers with hot oil and home-made weapons.
Abedi threw hot cooking oil over three officers on Saturday before stabbing them with “home-made weapons”, the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) said.
The officers sustained life-threatening injuries including burns, scalds and stab wounds in the “unprovoked” and “vicious” attack in HMP Frankland, Country Durham, according to the trade union covering prison staff.
Two officers sustained “severe stab wounds” but are in a stable condition in hospital, its national chairman said on Sunday morning.
Announcing the review into the incident, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “There will be a full review into how this attack was able to happen, alongside the separate police inquiry.”
