Man who abducted and murdered five-year-old April Jones taken to hospital after having face slashed with makeshift blade

Mark Bridger, who abducted and murdered five-year-old April Jones, has been attacked in prison.

Bridger, who is serving a life sentence, was slashed across the face with a makeshift blade by a fellow inmate at HMP Wakefield on Sunday

He was reportedly set upon as he walked along a gangway. 

Prison officers stepped in to save him from further injury

He was taken to hospital where he was given stitches for  facial injuries , and was returned to his cell afterwards

Although the injuries sustained were NOT life threatening, Bridger will be scarred for life

A Prison Service spokeswoman said: “A prisoner from HMP Wakefield was taken to hospital on 7 July. The incident is being investigated by the police.”

Bridger had been kept on his own at HMP Wakefield for the last month, because staff believed he was a high suicide risk and could not be exposed to other prisoners.

Now staff have deemed he is no longer a high suicide risk, meaning he was allowed to mingle with other inmates – and they with him.

Paedophile and child killer Bridger had initially been delighted to move to HMP Wakefield. But not any more.

A prison source said: “He’s absolutely terrified. He’s heard all kinds of rumours that other inmates are out to get him. He’s the number one target in there and genuinely fears for his life.”

And now the first in a long line of attacks has happened Bridger will live in fear for the rest of his life, knowing the next attack could come from anywhere and at any time

Prison Service’s Rule 43 – allows sex offenders to choose to be segregated from other jail inmates for their own protection. But history shows that even when segregated, paedophiles or child killers may not be safe.

Bridger kidnapped April before sexually abusing her, murdering her and then disposing of her body last October.

He was given a whole life sentence in May by the trial judge, Mr Justice Griffith Williams, after a jury took four hours to find him guilty following a month-long trial.

April had been playing with friends close to her home on the Bryn Y Gog estate in Machynlleth, mid-Wales, when Bridger enticed her into his car.

Following his arrest, officers found numerous indecent images on his computer.

The former abbattoir worker has never revealed what he did with April’s body, although traces of her blood were found all over his cottage and skull fragments were found in the fireplace.

Police believe he dismembered the five-year-old’s body before dumping the body parts at various locations in the hills, rivers and forests surrounding his home in Cienws.

He was sent to Wakefield, the largest maximum security jail in the UK, which houses a number of child killers, including Roy Whiting, Levi Belfield and Mick Philpott.

Bridger had previously been kept away from other prisoners for his own safety, as attacks on child killers are not uncommon in Britain’s jails. Despite tight security surrounding high-profile inmates, including segregation for paedophiles and child killers, attacks with improvised weapons do take place.

For more on HMP Wakefield click here – Including other attacks against paedophiles and child killers and just who actually lives there

Ian Huntley, the killer of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, was attacked at Wakefield when murderer Mark Hobson threw a bucket of boiling water over him in September 2005.

Huntley was moved to HMP Frankland in January 2008, where his throat was slashed by another inmate in March 2010