Sarah Payne’s killer, stabbed in prison

The man who killed eight-year-old Sarah Payne more than 20 years ago has been stabbed in prison.

Roy Whiting is currently serving a life sentence at the maximum security HMP Wakefield for the July 2000 school abduction and murder.

Sarah disappeared while playing near her grandparents’ home near Worthing, West Sussex.

Her body was found several kilometers away in a field just off the A29 near Pulborough 17 days later.

According to the Daily Mirror newspaper, Sunday’s attack left the killer covered in blood.

The Prison Service said he was treated for minor injuries.

Sarah’s killing sparked a nationwide outcry and the introduction of Sarah’s Law following a campaign by her parents and the now-defunct News of the World.

The law gives parents the power to check with the police whether people who have regular unsupervised access to their children have any convictions for child sex offenses and was extended to all police forces in England and Wales in 2011.

This is not the first time that the famous child killer has been attacked in prison.

Two convicted murderers, Richard Prendergast and Kevin Hyden, were each sentenced to a further seven-and-a-half years for attacking Whiting in his cell in 2018.

In 2011, Whiting was stabbed in the eye with a sharp toilet brush handle by fellow inmate, twice-convicted murderer Gary Vinter.

Whiting was left with a six-inch scar on his right cheek after being attacked with a razor by Rickie Tregaskis, another convicted murderer, in 2002.

Before killing Sarah, Whiting had previously spent time in prison for the kidnapping and indecent assault of a nine-year-old girl in 1995.

In 2010, Whiting’s minimum 50-year prison sentence for Sarah’s murder was reduced by 10 years by the High Court.

In a statement on Tuesday, West Yorkshire Police said: “On Sunday evening at 5.14pm police received a call from a member of staff at HMP Wakefield reporting that a male prisoner had been stabbed.

“Inquiries are ongoing.”

A Prison Service spokesman said: “An inmate at HMP Wakefield was treated for minor injuries following an incident involving another offender.

“It would be inappropriate to comment further while police investigate.”